Painful Memories
by DC Watchergirl
Summary: This takes place during the second season of Justice League. The 7 members of the Justice League, Artesia, and Hippolyta are shown each other's pains and joys in each of their lives. If I miss labeled the rating or did a bad job please be nice this is my first fanfiction.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the rights to the Justice League, Hades, or Mnemosyne. The rights to Justice League belongs to DC and the rights to Hades and Mnemosyne belongs to the Greek Mythology people.

 **Painful Memories**

By: DC Watchergirl

Chapter 1: Where Are We?

 _In the prison cells of Tartarus_

The 7 heroes, still in uniform, awoke with a startle and found themselves in blood red place with clouds of black all around them. They were in black spotted bone cage and all of them had magical enchanted shackles on their hands and wrists, so ordinary lock picks would not work on them, no matter how hard Batman tried. Finally after the fourth time of trying to pick the lock on his shackles Wonder Woman tiredly said,

"Batman, stop wasting your energy, those shackles are magical enchanted so ordinary lock picks won't work on them. Whoever did this, obviously, wanted to make sure that we did not escape."

"I was wondering why my powers aren't working," Superman brought up. "Magic is one of few things that can actually bind me."

"Maybe this is just a bad dream we're having because we ate too many burritos before we went to bed," Flash suggested. Batman, Wonder Woman, Jonn' Jonzz', Superman, and Hawkgirl all look at Flash with a look that said _Really_.

"Hey, that totally could have happened!" Flash said in defense.

"Well that just leaves one question," Hawkgirl said. "Where are we?"

"You're in Tartarus," said two women from the shadows. Now everyone, except Batman, was startled by the voice and all of the startled ones took a step back.

"Show yourselves!" Wonder Woman said trying to mask her stock of being snuck up on. Then two women stepped out of the shadowy part of the cage and both of them too had enchanted shackles bound by magic and the League instantly recognized the two women and shock spread across all of the leaguers faces, even Batman's.

"Mother!" exclaimed Wonder Woman and she went over to Hippolyta, her mother, and gave her a hug, well as of a hug as you can give when you have shackles on your wrists.

"Diana?" Hippolyta replied it a surprised voice.

"Yes, mother. It's Diana," Wonder Woman told her. As she stopped hugging her mother so she could see her mother. And that's when she saw,

"Aresia," Diana said in a low, angry growl.

"Hello Diana," Aresia replied. What's the phrase 'long time no see'?"

"What are you doing here?" Diana asked still angry. "You should be in the Field of Punishment unless the gods decided that that wasn't enough."

"I have no idea," Aresia replied. "And for your information I didn't die in the plane crash."

"Wait a minute," Shayera said. "You mean to tell me that in the real world you're alive?"

"Yes, I am," Aresia told her.

"But how?" Shayera asked. "I saw the plane explode there's no way you could have survived the explosion."

"I was taken out of the plane by Star Sapphire," Aresia told her. "I've been hiding in Man's World since. Now Diana would you care to introduce me to these men? I never did get to learn their names."

"Can't we introduce ourselves?" Flash asked.

"If you want to," Diana told him.

"Ok, well, I'm Flash," Flash braggingly told Aresia. "The fastest man alive."

"More like the most obnoxious man alive," Aresia muttered under her breath. After Flash introduced himself there was at least a one minute pause before Aresia then said, "So do you just not remember your names or do you just don't want to share them?"

"I think it's the second one Aresia," Shayera told her.

"Fine," Green Lantern grumbled. "My name is Green Lantern. And I'm one of many Green Lanterns that patrols the galaxy."

"I am Jonn' Jonzz," the Martian told Aresia. "From the planet Mars."

"My hero name is Superman," Superman said. "And for your information the public named me that. I didn't give myself the name Superman."

"And the one in black?" Aresia asked.

"Oh, that's Batman," Superman told her. "Or the Dark Knight as he is occasionally called."

"Now that just leaves one question," Flash announced to the group. "Why are we here?"

"To learn," said a deep, serious, and grave voice.

"Who…" Flash started to say.

"Hades," Hippolyta told them in a grave voice.

"Correct my dear," Hades said as he stepped out of the shadows in his black armor with shoulder spikes on it, a torn red cape, and black boots and he was ten feet tall. He was eight feet tall, had a black hair, mustache, and beard to match.

"We're here to learn…" Flash started.

"About one another," Hades told them. "To learn about your childhoods, your transformation into who you are now and everything in between."

"Um are you sure that's a good idea," Flash asked. "Because I don't know if I want to go into Bats' head." After he said that Batman turned his head and gave him the Bat Glare.

"Well you're going to learn whether you want to or not!" Hades said in a loud dictator voice and then he lower his voice and said, "Now who should go first? How about you?" Pointing to Hippolyta. "Yes, let's start with you. Mnemosyne!"

The goddess of memories came in a cloud of black smoke and he said, "Yes Hades."

"Could you create a memory screen of Queen Hippolyta's memories to show Arestia and the Justice League?"

"Yes, of course I can," said Mnemosyne. And then he waved his hand and shackles on Queen Hippolyta's wrists began to glow and she began to scream in pain as memories began to pour into her mind.

"MOTHER!" Diana screamed and raced to her mother's side to help. Then a screen, like the screens in a cinamax theater, appeared and spread all the way around the cage so they all could see.

"Enjoy the movie," Hades told them and then the movie of memories began.


	2. Chapter 2

**Quick Note: I am not including the Hades love life portion in Hippolyta's because her section is long as it is. Plus I really don't know how I'd write that anyway. Also U.S News is not a real news channel, at least I don't think it is.**

Chapter 2: Hippolyta and Flash

 ** _Hippolyta_**

 _"_ _Lift your sword up to block a head strike Hippolyta," said a woman with long raven hair, icy blue eyes, and blood red lips. She wore a brown leathered breastplate with sleeves, a leathered shirt, and leathered boots._

 _"_ _Yes, mother," said a young Hippolyta. She was about nine years old and was wearing a smaller version of her mother's armor. She looked exactly like her mother except she had blond hair instead of black. Now Hippolyta was struggling to lift her long, heavy sword and was also in combat with her younger sister who looked like a younger version of her mother her name was Antiople. They were both in combat with their mother as their instructor._

 _"_ _I think that's enough for now, girls. You may rest," their mother told them. Immediately Hippolyta collapsed from exhaustion and her sword fell from her hand and onto the ground as did Antiople and her sword._

 _"_ _Now, Olympia, go easy on them," said the god, who was their father, with long blonde hair, pale skin, and icy blue eyes. "They're only children."_

 _"_ _They need to learn to defend themselves, Ares, in case of war. You of all people should know that war can happen at any moment and that we need to be prepared for it," said Olympia._

 _"_ _I do understand that," Ares told her. "But I also know that they need to learn more than just fighting. Because in between wars there is something called peace."_

 _"_ _Girls, how about you go and play while me and your father talk," Olympia told them._

 _"_ _Yes, mother," both girls replied. They then left the courtyard which they had been practicing in and then headed to their garden. The garden was full of every single type of plant whether tree or flower and in the center there was a large fountain with beautiful clear blue water and was entirely made out of marble with two marble made spears crossing over the front part of the fountain. This is where the two girls decided to stop and think about what they were going to play._

 _"_ _So what will we play?" Antiople asked her sister._

 _"_ _How about we play hide-n-seek?" Hippolyta recommended._

 _"_ _I don't know," Antiople responded. "That's seems to be kind of a kids' game."_

 _"_ _But we are kids," Hippolyta told her. "Come on, please."_

 _"_ _Well, ok," Antiople said. "One…" Then there was a loud painful scream that sounded female._

 _"_ _Was that mom?" Hippolyta asked._

 _"_ _But the only time mom screams is when she's in pain," Antiople said thinking aloud and then she turned to her sister and saw Hippolyta staring at her._

 _"_ _MOM!" they both screamed as they raced out of the garden and into the courtyard. Where they saw their mother's body with blood pouring out due to a hole in her crest with was probably to a sword wound._

 _"_ _Mom," they whispered as they reached her body. Antiople then went down on her knees and put two fingers on the left side of her mother's neck._

 _"_ _There's no pulse," Antiople told her sister. "She's dead." Hippolyta felt a tear fall against her will. Her mother had always told her crying in public is a sight of weakness even in a time of grieving._

 _"_ _Why?" Hippolyta asked her sister. "Why would anyone murder mom?"_

 _"_ _What I want to know is who," Antiople told her. "Who ever did this will pay for what they did to her."_

 _"_ _Even if the person was me," someone announced to the girls. They then turned to see their father, Ares._

 _"_ _You did this to her?!" Hippolyta's voice was full of anger. "Why?!"_

 _"_ _Because she was going to take you away from me," Ares told them. "And was going to take you to a place where I could never see you."_

 _"_ _Why would mom do that?" Hippolyta asked him._

 _"_ _Because he's an evil god who feeds off of violence and war," Antiople said as she stood up. "And where mom was going to take us was a place full of peace where's there is no war. Mom wanted us to grow up away from that."_

 _"_ _Also so that you two could grow up away from men," Ares told them._

 _"_ _Why?" Hippolyta asked him._

 _"_ _This is why," Ares told her. He then waved his hand and red energy flowed from it. It swirled around Ares' hand and then ran straight toward the girls. The red energy then ran around both Hippolyta and Antiople. It ran around them faster and faster. Two pieces then branched off of it and one piece attached itself to Antiople's brain while the other attached itself to Hippolyta's. The girls then saw war, bloody dead bodies with the source of their death still there. And they felt pain, anger, rage, and most of all, fear. The images and the red light then went away leaving the girls studded, uneasy, fearful, and full of rage._

 _"_ _So much death, so much pain," Antiople told herself. "And it's all caused by the same thing."_

 _"_ _Men," Hippolyta answered her sister. "Men caused all of that pain, suffering, death, and cruelty._ _ **That's**_ _what mom wanted us to grow up away from. She wanted us to grow up away from men."_

 _"_ _And I'm one," Ares stated. "So she would be taking you away from me as well. She'd be taking away from your father."_

 _"_ _You may have helped make us," Antiople told him._

 _"_ _But from this point on you are no longer our father. But from the moment you killed our mother was the moment you became our enemy." Hippolyta told Ares._

 _"_ _Now since we're enemies," Ares said as he stepped toward the girls. "I see no reason to keep you alive." He then lifted his arm and made in his palm a ball of fire. "Good-bye, my daughters." Then he threw the ball of fire at the girls. Both of the girls screamed and braced themselves for an impact. But the impact never came. Right before the ball it the girls they vanished in a white light. When the girls opened their eyes they found themselves on an island with a sandy beach and dark green trees behind them and there was clear, blue ocean all around them._

 _"_ _Where are we?" Antiople asked as she and Hippolyta looked around._

 _"_ _You are on Themiscyria," said a woman with black hair, grey eyes, pale skin, and was wearing a white sleeveless dress with a golden belt and her spear in hand and her golden shield with Medusa's head was on her back._

 _"_ _Athena!" both the sisters exclaimed and in an instant they were on a knee bowing._

 _"_ _Arise," Athena told them gently. "You are save here. Your father, my brother, Ares, can not find you here. I sent you here as a final request from your mother." Both the girls arose. "Now I have a job for you two. You will go to Greece and find some abused girls that we will guide you to. You will bring them here and me with the help of Artemis, goddess of the hunt, will train you and the girls that you will save and will become sisters to."_

 _"_ _Thank you Athena," Hippolyta told her._

 _"_ _Now the first girl you will rescue is named Artemis. You will find her in my temple being beaten by her brother."_

 ** _In Memory, in Greece_**

 _"_ _Brother please," Artemis was begging. She had red hair; icy blue eyes, tan skin, and looked about eight._

 _"_ _Shut-up Arty," her brother told her. "I told you not to tell mom about my problems in school, but no, you had to tell her. Now I have to do all work and no play because of you."_

 _"_ _But I didn't tell her," Artemis told him with her back against a marble column. She had a black eye, bruise on her left arm, and her left leg had dagger in it._

 _"_ _Then how did she out?" he asked._

 _"_ _I don't know," she answered in fear and honest._

 _"_ _Well, then it was you until you can prove otherwise," he said. He now raised his hand and curled it into a fist, and was about to punch her in the face. Artemis braced for its impact._

 _"_ _Hey!" Hippolyta interrupted. "Quit it!"_

 _"_ _I'd listen to my sister if I were you," Antiople warned him._

 _"_ _And why should I listen to you?" Artemis' brother asked them._

 _"_ _Because if you don't I'll have to beat you up," Hippolyta told him._

 _"_ _Haa, Haa, Haaa," Artemis' brother responded. "You beat ME up. Now that's funny girl. Now why don't you go and weave some blankets or something. Before I beat you up."_

 _"_ _You, strangers, Run! You don't know what he's capable of," Artemis told them. He turned to face her._

 _"_ _Shut up Arty," her brother said then his attention went back to the sisters. He then walked up to Hippolyta. "Now beat it." As he said that he pushed her. So Hippolyta pushed him a little harder than he pushed her. She then punched him in the face giving him a black eye. His hand then went to the eye she had punched._

 _"_ _You little…" he began to say. Hippolyta then punched him in the stomach which made him move his hands to his stomach. After words she then hit him on the head with her fist and that knocked him to the ground and unconscious. Hippolyta and Antiople then went over to a very scared Artemis._

 _"_ _Hi, I'm Hippolyta and this is my sister Antiople. And we won't hurt you," Hippolyta told her. "We're here to take to a place where no man can hurt you ever again." And when Artemis heard that a big smile spread across her face and then all the girls then headed out of the temple._

 ** _As adults and after saved all several girls, now women, from oppression of men and after the Hades love life incident and Heracles incident, without Hippolyta dying_**

 _"_ _Hippolyta?" Athena asked she landed on the island._

 _"_ _Yes, Athena," Hippolyta responded. "What is it?"_

 _"_ _I am here to help you mold a child of your own," Athena told her. "Now, first gather some soft sand from the beach." Hippolyta did as she was told. "I will guide you to mold the child." Athena gave Hippolyta the wisdom to mold her child. "Now before we make it come to life you need to discern the sex, hair color, and eye color of your child."_

 _"_ _The sex will be female, eye color will be baby blue, and hair color will be black," Hippolyta answered her._

 _"_ _Alright," Athena responded. Then lightning zapped the sand in Hippolyta's hands, but for some random reason, it didn't hurt her, probably because it was lightning from the gods. Once it hit the sand, the sand steamed off and a baby girl began to cry in Hippolyta's arms. And for the first time in years Hippolyta smiled._

 _"_ _Now what is her name?" Athena asked._

 _"_ _Her name is Diana," Hippolyta told her._

 _"_ _Take care of her," Athena instructed._

 _"_ _You have my word," Hippolyta told Athena before she disappeared and went back to Olympus._

 _"_ _Hello, my little sun and stars," Hippolyta told baby Diana. "Time for you to meet your family."_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"So that's why you don't like men," Superman said as he turned to faced Hippolyta and Diana, who hadn't left her mother's side. "You were exposed to the worse of them and exposed to the damage they caused."

"Correct," Hippolyta said. "That's why I didn't want anything to deal with Man's World or Diana. For all men are the same. They are all evil, corrupt, and cruel."

"Agreed," Artesia responded.

"Now wait a minute," Hawkgirl said. "Just because there a lot of men in the past were jerks doesn't mean all men are jerk in the present."

"Well, enough with Hippolyta," Hades said. "It's time for someone else. How about a leaguer instead. How about Flash." Then Hippolyta's shackles stopped glowing but Flash's shackles began to glow and he screamed out in pain.

"Flash!" all leaguers screamed and Green Lantern raced to his side and both sat down on the cage floor. The memory screen began to change by Mnemosyne's will.

 **Flash**

 _"_ _Wally, dinner!" a woman with red hair, emerald hair, and tan skin._

 _"_ _Coming Mom!" said a young Wally a.k.a Flash. He raced out of his room down the stairs and into the dinning room where his mother and red haired and blue eyed sister were._

 _"_ _Hey, where's dad?" Wally asked._

 _"_ _He's running a little late but he said that he will be home soon," his mother told them. Just then the door opened._

 _"_ _Honey, I'm home!" a red haired, blue eyed and pale skinned man announced to the house._

 _"_ _Dad!" exclaimed Wally and his sister as they raced to the door and hugged their father._

 _"_ _Hi, dear," Wally's mom said as went over to her husband and kissed him._

 _"_ _Hi, dear. Is dinner ready?" Wally's father asked._

 _"_ _Yes, it is," Wally's mom told him. "Now let's all head to the table and eat." After that was said the two kids raced to the dinning room with their parents following them. They then took their seats. At the head of the table their father sat at his right Wally sat and at Wally's right sat his sister and to his father's left sat his mother. The table itself was an old fashion wooden one that made of oak._

 _"_ _Alright, let's eat," his father said and they did. They ate mash potatoes, turkey, steamed green beans, and had corn gravy for the potatoes. "Now how was school you too?"_

 _"_ _It went well," Wally's sister told him. "Went through the whole school day and learn more boring stuff."_

 _"_ _It wasn't THAT boring," Wally said. "We learned about how water when it rains is called precipitation and that when it is boiling it called evaporation and…"_

 _"_ _Wally," his dad interrupted. "I thought we talked about this. No talking about science at the table. Because when you do you leave everyone else confused."_

 _"_ _Yes, dad," Wally said as he lowered his head and Wally was quiet through out the rest of dinner. Science was his favorite thing to talk about if not THE ONLY thing that he wanted to talk about. Everything else like, trucks, trains, and all that other stuff never really interested him. (2 hour later)_

 _"_ _Time for bed kids," Wally's mom told them for the bottom of the stairs._

 _"_ _Got it," the siblings replied. Wally put his train pajamas and his sister put on her penguin pajamas. They both then brushed their teeth and then went to their bedrooms. Wally's had posters of famous scientists and the periodic table on his wall and was blue in color while his sister's bedroom was pink, had princess pictures and castle on her wall and both bedrooms were across the hall from each other. Now Wally was in his bed waiting for his mom to tuck him in, who currently was tucking his sister in._

 _"_ _Wally," his mom said in a quiet but calm voice. "Can I come in?"_

 _"_ _Yes," Wally replied. His mom walked into his room and sat down on his bed._

 _"_ _Hey, Wally would you care to tell me about precipitation and evaporation?" his mom asked._

 _"_ _You want to know about that?" Wally asked._

 _"_ _Of course," his mom replied. "I want to know about what you're learning and what you find interesting."_

 _"_ _Well," Wally began. "When rain, sleet, or snow falls it's called precipitation. Then once the sun comes out it heats up the ground causing some or all of the snow, rain or sleet to heat up and become steam. And that steam heads up to the clouds where it starts to become water droplets and that's called condensation. And finally when there is so much the cloud can't hold it, it falls and becomes precipitation again. That process is called the water cycle."_

 _"_ _That is interesting Wally," his mom told him. "I'm glad you like science."_

 _"_ _You are?" Wally asked in excitement._

 _"_ _Of course," his mom said. "People who are good science and enjoy it achieve great things like Thomas Edison. He was great in science and he invented the first working light bulb. Wally, science will take you places you never dreamed of going. And if it's your passion go for it. I won't stop you."_

 _"_ _Thanks Mom," Wally replied._

 _"_ _Good night Wally," his mom told him right before she kissed him._

 _"_ _Good night Mom," Wally replied. His mom then went to the door and turned out the light and closed the door to a sliver and left the room. Wally was then left wit his thoughts as he pondered his mother's words. Now Wally had always wanted to be a scientist but feared his dad or mom disproving of it. After hearing that Wally had no doubt in his mind that his mom would disprove of his choice and with a big smile left on his face he went to sleep._

 ** _18 years later_**

 _"_ _Congratulations Wally!" Wally's sister told him as she hugged him tight._

 _"_ _Matilda, I can't breathe," Wally choked out._

 _"_ _O, sorry," Matilda replied and she then let go of her brother._

 _"_ _Still, congratulations making it into the Central City Police Forensic Science_

 _Department. I'm glad you are able to catch crooks, save lives, and do science all at the same time," his mom told him._

 _"_ _Thanks, Mom," Wally said. "I'm also glad that Dad isn't upset that I got stuck in the Forensic Science Department. I mean, he wasn't for the whole, do a job with science thing."_

 _"_ _Wally, if you're happy then we're all happy," his mom told him._

 _"_ _Even Dad?" Wally asked._

 _"_ _Even Dad," his mom told him. She then hugged her son and he hugged her back. Then they broke up the hug._

 _"_ _Will you come by and see me and your father some time?" his mom asked him._

 _"_ _Of course," Wally replied. His mom then turned to Matilda and gave her a hug and then they broke it up._

 _"_ _Matilda," her mom said. "I'll be seeing you on TV. So which news channel are you on?"_

 _"_ _I'm on U.S News," Matilda responded. "And I'm on at 7:00 am every day except Sunday, well live anyway. We're going to be recording Sunday's the day before."_

 _"_ _Well, I'm proud of both my world changers," their mom said. "Now remember, tomorrow is family game night and it's at eight at my house. So you two better be there."_

 _"_ _Yes, mom," Matilda and Wally said at the same time._

 ** _A couple weeks later_**

 _"_ _You sure you can finish this up on your own Wally," a lab coated scientist with glasses, black hair, and dark skin asked him._

 _"_ _Tony, I've got this you go home to your wife and kids. I'll be done soon," Wally told his friend and coworker._

 _"_ _Ok, Wally," Tony told him. "Just be careful, it's storming out there and I think there's lightning."_

 _"_ _Thanks for the warning Tony," Wally replied. "Goodnight." Tony then exited the room and closed the door behind him, leaving Wally alone in his lab. Now Wally's lab had pale blue walls, wooden shelves with chemicals on them, tables with evidence bags with evidence from crime scenes on them, and with a sunroof above him. Now Wally was just cleaning up the mess that he and Tony had made on the table, which had bottles of chemicals on it. Wally got a rag and started cleaning up the stains on the table. The storm that Tony had mentioned was roaring outside and there was lightning threatening to break the sunroof. Then finally it did and hit Wally square in the chest causing him to fall on table full of chemicals and causing some of the chemicals to fall onto him._

 ** _Eight months later_**

 _"_ _His finger moved. Do you think he's waking up? Is he alright? What happened to him?" several voices said as Wally began to wake up. Then he finally did and Wally then gave a gasp._

 _"_ _Wally!" Matilda and his mother raced to his bedside._

 _"_ _Mom, Matilda, where am I?" Wally asked._

 _"_ _You're in the hospital, dear," his mom told him._

 _"_ _What happened to me?" Wally asked them._

 _"_ _You got struck by lightning eight months ago," his mom told him._

 _"_ _Eight Months!" Wally exclaimed as he sat up. "I've been in a coma for eight months!"_

 _"_ _Wally calm down," Matilda told him. "You need to calm down. You just woke up. You need to rest."_

 ** _A week after waking up_**

 _"_ _Can I go home now?" Wally asked the doctor impatiently. The doctor was looking through her papers and then looked up when Wally talked to her._

 _"_ _Yes, you can Mr. West," the doctor replied. "You are physical healthy and are ready to go home."_

 _"_ _Finally," Wally said annoyed. Wally then left his hospital room and headed to the elevator. Once he was in the elevator he headed down to the lobby and went out the door when all of a sudden the world seemed to go on slow mo when a woman with hot coffee in her hands tripped and was going to fall and spill it all over the carpet. Before he realized what he was doing he ran and quickly, before she even knew what was going on, saved her from falling and spilling the coffee. Then in half a second he was back where he was before and he and the woman were startled. He then ran outside and was out in a heartbeat and he was terrified. "What's happening to me?" He wondered to himself._

 _He then ran to his lab, which only took him a minute even though it was miles away. He then used a stethoscope and to his surprise his heart was beating a little faster than it was suppose to. "What's happened to me?" He asked himself again. Wally then noticed the chemicals on the table and figured, 'Could I combine the chemicals that I ran into with the lightning and my plasma, before this happened, to figure out what has happened to me?' But then Wally realized there wouldn't be a way to replicate the lightning so he decided to do it the simple way, examine his DNA._

 _He then gave himself a paper cut, on purpose, and put the blood under a microscope to examine it. He saw that his cells where giving off sparks and where splitting faster then they were suppose to. "That lightning and chemical bath has changed my cells and probably my DNA as well," Wally told himself. "I need to tell my parents and Matilda about this. Maybe they can help me."_

 ** _That night at family game night_**

 _"_ _Wally!" his mom exclaimed. "I didn't expect you to be here."_

 _"_ _Well, I'm here," Wally told her. "Now can I come in?"_

 _"_ _Of course," his mom replied as she went out of the doorframe to let her son in._

 _"_ _Now, what game are we going to play tonight?" Matilda asked as Wally and her mother made their way into the family room or living room, which had three long green couches, a fan on the ceiling, and a wooden table in the middle of the room, where Matilda and her father were waiting for them._

 _"_ _Before we get going with that, there's something I need you guys help with," Wally told them. "And something you need to know."_

 _"_ _What is it Wally?" his mom asked._

 _"_ _Are you alright?" Matilda asked him._

 _"_ _No, it's, it's complicated," Wally told them. "Well, maybe it's better if I show you." He then ran out of the room and in half a second brought all of their favorite board games, which are five in number, and laid them all on the table, leaving them all startled._

 _"_ _Wally how…" Matilda began._

 _"_ _I know what you are Wally," his mother told her son. "You're a metahuman."_

 _"_ _What's a metahuman?" Wally asked._

 _"_ _It's a person with unnatural abilities or powers," his father told him. "And in your case it's speed."_

 _"_ _There the type of people that your father brings in because of their tendency for destruction," his mom told him._

 _"_ _Wait, you're not going to bring me in, are you?" Wally asked him._

 _"_ _No," his dad told his son. "Not unless you cause us trouble."_

 _"_ _Hey, I just thought of something," Matilda exclaimed. "What if you help dad catch these bad metahumans under another name and while wearing a mask? That way the public can't trace it back to Wally West and also it will prove that not all metahumans are bad."_

 _"_ _That sounds like a good idea Matilda," Wally told her._

 _"_ _No!" his father told him as he stood up off the couch which he was sitting on. "Wallace Henry West, you will do no such thing. The only thing preventing me from taking you to the police is the fact that you haven't caused us any trouble. You start doing this and nothing will be able to save you from me turning you in."_

 _"_ _You'd turn me in even if I was helping you bring in the bad guys?" Wally asked him._

 _"_ _Without hesitation," his dad told him. "Now I think I'll be going and don't count on me ever helping you in any way shape or form. Or ever coming by again and if any of you even try to contact me I will turn Wallace in. That's a promise." He turned to his wife. "Honey, are you ok with this?"_

 _"_ _Yes," she told her husband._

 _"_ _Then consider this our divorce," he told her. Then he turned to the rest of his family. "Good bye." Then he left and never came back._

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Wally, I didn't know," Green Lantern thought out loud.

"You couldn't have known," Wally told him.

"But why didn't you tell us?" Lantern asked him as he and Flash stood up.

"Because people don't like talking about pain," Batman told John. "It's a simple fact."

"How would you kno…" John began to say.

"Mnemosyne!" Hades shouted. "Could you change the screen to show Green Lantern's memories?"

"Of course," Mnemosyne told him. She then waved her hand while Flash's shackles ceased to glow; Lantern's shackles began to glow, burn he began to sear in pain.

"Lantern!" screamed Jonn', Batman, Wonder Woman, and Flash.

"John!" screamed Hawkgirl as she and Flash raced to his side.

"And, here, we, go," Hades said before the memory screen changed to fit Lantern's memories.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Green Lantern and Hawkgirl

 ** _Green Lantern_**

 _"_ _John, It's getting late, it's time to go home," an old woman exclaimed to her ten year old grandson. The woman had black skin, and even blacker hair, and her hair was placed on her head in a spiral bun, and she was wearing dark blue show pants, black boots, a dark blue scarf, black hat, dark blue gloves, and a black coat. She was trying to get her grandson, John, who was eight, to come back to her, for it was getting dark on that cold, snowy December day._

 _"_ _Ah! Can't we stay here for five more minutes," John begged her. John was wearing his dark green coat, with dark blue mittens, black snow pants, a dark green scarf and black earmuffs. He also was holding some red skis, with yellow strips on them, next to him. He was standing in front of his old grandmother and was begging to let them stay in the park filled with snow._

 _"_ _In five more minutes it will be so dark that you won't be able to find your way back to the car with your skis," his grandmother told him._

 _"_ _Ok," John said disappointed as he lowered his head down._

 _"_ _Cheer up," she told him. "We'll come back tomorrow so that you can ski down that large hill again. Ok?"_

 _"_ _Ok!" John exclaimed a little more excited._

 _"_ _Good," she told him. "Now let's go home and have some of your mother's hot apple cider. I'm sure if we don't hurry it will get cold."_

 _"_ _Alright!" he shouted. "Let's go!"_

 _"_ _To the car!" she shouted. They then marched out of the park with John leading and his grandmother bringing up the rear._

 ** _Two decade later memory time_**

 **** _"_ _You really want to join the Marines?" a white man with blue eyes, blonde hair, and broad chest man asked a John Stewart, who was now in his twenties._ __

 **** _"_ _Yes, sir Admiral," John told him._

 _"_ _Why do you want to join the Marines?" the General asked him. "From what I've seen of some successful retried Marines they just wanted something to brag about."_

 _"_ _Well," John paused. He didn't want to ruin this chance and he was trying think of some mature way to say this. "I want to join the Marines because I want to do something that will make a difference."_

 _"_ _Ok," the General began. "You're in. But if you disobey any orders or rules you will get kicked out, understood."_

 _"_ _Yes, sir," John responded as he stood up straight and he put his arm and hand in a military pose. He was joyful but he kept his joy to himself._

 ** _A month later_**

 **** _"_ _Alright John, welcome to Fort 5B," the Admiral told him as they walked up to it. John had only brought a small nap sack with some spare clothes, undergarments, and socks in it. They continued to walk up to the Fort. It was a small, had a tin roofed, was two stories high, and had two doors standing next to each other and no windows. The Fort was on the ground with no porch or steps and it was on a flat area with a dark green jeep to the Fort's left. Both then reached the door with the Admiral leading and John right behind him. The Admiral then knocked on the door and then a man with pale skin, brown hair, and emerald eyes answered the door. The man also had a green military helmet on._

 _"_ _Admiral, sir," he responded formerly. He then put his legs together, stood up straight, and putting his right arm and hand into the military position. "What do I own this honor to?"_

 _"_ _George Marley, we have a new requite his name is John Stewart," the Admiral told George. The Admiral then moved out of the way so that George could see John. "I want you to show John the ropes around here. And also tell him the rules and what we don't tolerate," the Admiral told Marley._

 _"_ _Yes, sir," George replied. The Admiral then nodded his head and started the mile walk to central command. George then relaxed once the Admiral was gone. "Hey, John let me show you around the place." Marley then moved and John walked into the base. It had grey and dark green surrounding walls, a few chairs in the kitchen, black doorknobs, and a dark wooden staircase. "Ok, rule number 1," Marley told John. "Don't whisper while a superior is talking or argue irrespectively at one. Because that will land you in deep trouble believe I know." George then kept explaining all the rules and regulations to John. Until they reached the room John and George would be staying in. "Oh, one more thing John," George told John. "Be ready at all times and don't get upset when you fail. It happens you just need to get over it." George then opened the door and jestered John to go in._

 _"_ _Thanks, sir," John told George as he went inside._

 _"_ _Please, call me George or Marley," George Marley told John as he followed in behind him and turned on the lights. "You only call your superiors sir."_

 _"_ _Okay, Marley," John responded to George. Then John knew that he had a friend in the military that could be respectful, serious, and still be able to have fun._

 _"_ _Hey, Marley," Both John and Marley turned around to the door to see who had spoken. The man who spoke had tan skinned with a red orangish color hair and sapphire eyes. He then turned to John. "And who's this? Is he the new requite that the Admiral mentioned?"_

 _"_ _Yes, he is Rex," George told Rex. Marley then moved aside to let Rex see John. "Rex Mason, this is John Stewart. John Stewart, this is Rex Mason he's another one of our roommates."_

 _"_ _Nice to meet you," John told Mason. They then shock hands._

 _"_ _You too," Mason told John. They stopped shacking hands and put them back to their sides. "Well, welcome to the rookies' den. It's where all the men in their first year in the military go. Probably so we don't annoy any of the other men that aren't." Rex chuckled at little. John was a little puzzled. He realized that this one was one who would saw things glass half full and was one who looked on the bright side of things._

 **In real life, in the cage**

"So, that's why you called me a rookie," Diana exclaimed. "A rookie is someone who is in their first year in anything. And I was a rookie when we met."

"Did you not know that?" John asked calmly.

"No, and I didn't what to look stupid so I didn't ask," Diana told him.

"It's not stupid to ask questions, Diana," Superman assured her. "One of my teachers once told me that asking questions is a great way to learn and that there is a good chance you're not the only one who doesn't know the answer."

"Thanks, Superman," Diana responded.

"You're welcome," he told her. Aresia then rolled her eyes at them.

 ** _A year later in memory time_**

 _"_ _Attention!" the General screamed into the military's resting place for their soldiers, which was a small tin roofed two storied building. Then all 50 men got out of their beds, and all of them had their uniforms on, and they raced out of their rooms, which had five men stationed at each. Twenty five of the men marched out and went down the stairs single file, among these was John, and the other twenty five marched out of their rooms and into the large room where all the men would line up single file. All of them then lined up single file and stood straight up._

 _"_ _Alright men, listen up," the Admiral said in a loud voice but it wasn't a yell. "You will be placed into teams of five and do a training exercise together as a team. And if you don't complete it you have to do all the chores around the base for a week. Understood?!"_

 _"_ _Yes, Sir!" the men all responded._

 ** _A few hours later_**

 _"_ _Nice work Team 5," the General told John, Rex, and the other three men. "You finished first. Now who was your leader?"_

 _"_ _John sir," Rex told him. "But he was more our strategist than our leader though." The General then turned to John who, like the other men, were standing straight up and were not slouching at all._

 _"_ _Good work John," the General told him. "But letting you soldiers know that a strategist and a leader are two different things. The leader is the one who conducts the mission, what everyone does during it and is on the front line of the battlefield as well as plan it all out. So good job at being honest with that. You completed the training assignment first and you did do it well. What are you soldiers doing? Quit slouching and stand up straight soldiers?!"_

 _"_ _Yes, sir!" responded the group and they immediately fixed their position._

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Was it always that formal?" Superman asked John.

"Yes, it was," John responded. "You do what you're told without question or hesitation. I lived like that for so long I didn't remember how to live any other way."

 ** _A few months later in memory time in the morning_**

 _"_ _John!" the Admiral screamed as he barged into the medical room. "What happened?! John, who was sitting in a chair beside a med bed that was occupied, stood up and walked to the Admiral. John when he began to speak he was stuttering._

 _"_ _I don't know sir," John began. "We were doing the mission and it was going well and then…"_

 _"_ _And then what!" the Admiral interrupted. "I need details and you need to stand up straight, solider! And quiet sounding like you're going to cry!"_

 _"_ _Yes, sir," responded John standing in a military arm pose and trying to not shed a tear. "Our team was sent to the terrorist base and everything was going according to your plan to get the information for their next attack from their computer but then one of the terrorists that we used for interrogation got up from unconsciousness just to shoot two of our men. Rex Mason and George Marley. Rex got shot in the rib cage and George got shot in the middle of his back."_

 _"_ _Why didn't you kill the terrorist you interrogated?!" the Admiral said in a louder tone._

 _"_ _We forgot about them after we got the information, sir," John admitted to the Admiral._

 _"_ _You were put in charge of the squad and the mission. You needed to think more before you acted and since you weren't it could have cost you two lives," the Admiral told him. "Next time it could be worse. Now what happened to the terrorist base?"_

 _"_ _We destroyed the base with the weapons inside it, sir," John told him._

 _"_ _And the terrorists?" the Admiral asked._

 _"_ _We…We…We searched them for any tracking devices, gadgets, or gear and then we took them out of the base… and brought them back to camp and put them in prison," John told the Admiral. He stuttered for he was afraid that the Admiral would not be happy with him for sparing the terrorists' lives._

 _"_ _Why didn't you kill them?!" the Admiral questioned John._

 _"_ _I didn't think that it was necessary to kill them so I told the men not to," John told the Admiral._

 _"_ _Your compassion is a weakness that your enemies do not share," the Admiral told him sternly. "And it cost you two of your men. I hope you've learned from this, solider not to be too kind to your enemies. Understood?!"_

 _"_ _Yes, sir," John replied to the Admiral as serious as he could at that point. For he was trying to hold back tears and sobs that threatened to break free. The Admiral then left the room and John went back to his chair and put his face in his hands and shed two tears one from each eye. "I'm sorry." Was his whisper to the men in commas from an extreme loss of blood._

 ** _A few hours later_**

 _"_ _John," a bald headed tan skinned blue eyed doctor said in a grave voice. "I have an update on Mr. Marley and Mr. Mason's conditions."_

 _"_ _What is it?" John asked the doctor his tone was full of concern._

 _"_ _Well, Mr. Mason will recover in good time and should wake up any time," the doctor told John._

 _"_ _That's great," John responded. "What about Marley?"_

 _"_ _Marley…"the doctor was hesitating. "Mr. Marley didn't make it. He lost too much blood before he got to us. I'm sorry he…he…he's gone. I'm sorry."_

 **In real life in the cage**

"What did he mean he's gone?" Diana asked. There was silence for about a minute.

"He's dead Diana," Batman told her with his head down.

"O," Diana exclaimed in shock. She then turned to Green Lantern who was still on the cage floor and he had his head down. "I'm sorry John."

"You couldn't have known," he responded.

 ** _A few days later_**

 _Rex Mason had woken up the day after they found out about Marley's death and he too was very upset about it to put it mildly. Today was the day of the funeral for George Marley, but unlike Jacob Marley from the Christmas Carol, many mourned for the loss of their friend, or son or brother or fiancée. Yes, many came to the funeral and everyone was wearing black, black uniforms, black dresses, black shoes, black hats, and black hats. After some the ceremony, which is were some friends and family members said some things about him and final words, John came to George Marley's grave with Rex Mason._

 _"_ _Hey, John," Rex spoke trying to start a conversation._

 _"_ _Mason," was John's only reply. "It's my fault Mason if I hadn't ordered you guys to spare the terrorists then Marley would be alive and…"_

 _"_ _It's NOT your fault John," Rex put his left hand on John's left shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with compassion."_

 _"_ _It is here," John told Rex. "My compassion cost us Marley, and you ending up in a comma. You can't have compassion here it's something your opponent doesn't have."_

 _"_ _Now you sound like the Admiral," Rex told John. "Don't let tragedy change who you are. And I miss him too. Marley was my first friend here and only, besides you. So I know it hurts."_

 _"_ _Rex, I don't think I should stay here if I'm going to be this broken after a death," John told his friend. "I cried at the funeral and I don't think I should stay here if I'm going to be this broken every time I loss someone."_

 _"_ _You know I cried too and it's ok to," Rex began. "It shows that we're human and not a machine. And I'll agree with you on that. When I was in a small village a couple years before you showed up, due to a battle about to get there, a small little girl about 7 got shot in the head and fell into my arms. I then shot the man who shot her in both legs, crippling him. I broke; it was an innocent child that had done nothing wrong to deserve death, an unfortunate victim of war. Marley was able to help me heal a little and it got better from there. If you what to go you can go but I'm staying for a little while longer."_

 _"_ _Ok, Mason," John spoke up. Mason then took his hand off John's shoulder. "It's been good knowing you, good-bye,"_

 _"_ _Bye," Mason replied. John then walk away from Marley's grave leaving Rex alone._

 ** _Five months later_**

 **** _John had been living in a small one story houses since he left the marine corp. It was in a small city that was about ten miles away from Central City. John was currently taking a strolling to his 'job' it really wasn't a job to John. He was a worker at one of the rescue mission centers. He figured that if he wasn't going to be in the military making a difference in the world he might as well be making a difference in a city by helping homeless people get food. The city was a little dirtier than Metropolis, crime wise, but DEFINITLY cleaner than Gotham. The buildings were really close together and most of them were apartments._

 _John was just passing by an ally when he heard._

 _"_ _Alright, hand over your wallets now," a voice stated, it was male and probably about seventeen years old. John looked into the alley and saw a man with a gun pointing at a small family made of a father, mother, and a nine year old daughter. All of the family members were shacking in fear._

 _"_ _Alright, maybe this will convince you," the seventeen year old said. He then grabbed the daughter and held the gun to her head._

 _"_ _Mommy," the girl whispered in fear._

 _"_ _No!" the mother exclaimed. "Please don't, spare her I beg you. We'll do whatever you want. Here." She took out of her purse a small wallet and her husband took his out as well. They both then dropped their wallets at the man's feet. "Now let her go." The man, still holding the gun on the young girl's head, picked up the wallets and saw that there was some money inside. John immediately called the police and told them the situation and they said they wouldn't be there for another few minutes and not to engage._

 _"_ _How do I know that you won't scream for the police once I'm gone?" he asked once he was standing up and stuffed the two wallets._

 _"_ _You have our word please, don't kill her," her father told the man._

 _"_ _Daddy, mommy, I'm scared," the girl whispered._

 _"_ _Don't worry Katy; mommy and daddy are handling this. You'll be ok," the mother told her._

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Why doesn't the father just stand up and fight against the mugger?!" Aresia exclaimed impatiently.

"Because if he did that he would put his wife and his daughter in danger," John explained. "No one would risk their family's lives like that." Batmen lowered his head till his chin touched his collarbone and only Hippolyta noticed but said nothing.

 ** _Back into the memories_**

 _"_ _Actually, I need to leave a mark and make sure to guys don't follow me," the man told them. He tightened his grip on the girl and pointed the gun on the top of her head._

 _"_ _No, don't," the father told the man when he realized what he was doing. "Do it to me, please let my daughter go. Take me instead."_

 _John, finally realizing what the situation was becoming, quietly walked toward the man. Before, John was afraid that if he made a move he would kill the family or himself, but now he realized that if he didn't make a move now someone was going to die and the cops would have been too late. The mugger had his back turned to John so he couldn't see John._

 _"_ _I don't know," the mugger replied. "How do I know that you aren't going to double cross our deal?"_

 _John was right behind the mugger and then he covered his mouth. The mugger gave a muffled scream and his arms went up and his gun fell on the ground, releasing the girl. She went back to her parents and they all hugged each other. The mugger tried to get John's hands off of his mouth but failed and then fell unconscious._

 _"_ _Thank you," the mother told John she then turned to her husband. "Good bluff, dear."_

 _"_ _I wasn't bluffing," the father told her. "I didn't even know that man was behind the mugger. I was ready to give up my life for my family. It's what a father does." The family continued to hug each other and then the cops showed up._

 _"_ _I called the cops when I saw you guys being mugged," John told them. "They should be able to take it from here."_

 _"_ _Thank you," the father told him. Three cops then came into the alley. They all saw the mugger lying on the floor of the ally, unconscious but alive._

 _"_ _Take him away boys," one of the officers said. "Take the wallets out of his pocket." The other two cops did as they were told and gave the wallets back to the couple._

 _"_ _Mr.…," the cop that gave the orders began as he looked at John._

 _"_ _Stewart," John told him. "John Stewart."_

 _"_ _Well, Mr. Stewart how did the mugger get unconscious?" the cop asked him._

 _"_ _I walked up behind him and covered his month until he passed out, sir," John told him._

 _"_ _Why didn't you wait for us?" the cop asked him._

 _"_ _Because the mugger was threatening the girl's life and her father was considering taking her place and I knew you won't be here in time so I intervened."_

 _"_ _Smart move," the cop told John. "You were right. If the family had waited any longer, one of them would have been died. Good job."_

 _"_ _Thanks," John responded. The cops left as did the family, who were discussing whose idea it was to enter the alley, and John was left in the alley and he was smiling to himself because he knew he had saved that family from having to go to a funeral._

 _"_ _John Stewart," a mysterious voice breathed and echoed around the alley. John looked around to see who had spoken but there was no one there. He was confused but he still remained calm._

 _"_ _Yes?" John answered unsuringly._

 _"_ _You have the ability to over come great fear," the voice said. All of a sudden a small glowing green ring came down and placed itself on John's finger. "You have been chosen." The ring then transformed John's clothes into the Green Lantern's uniform and the battery for the ring was placed in John's left hand while the ring went on his right. "Welcome to the Green Lantern Corp." The ring told him. Then he was transferred to another planet and was currently in the middle of a circle on a platform. While above him were small little blue men with that were glowing green._

 _"_ _Who are you?" John asked still confused._

 _"_ _We are the Guardians," one of small men told him. "I'm Ganthat. And you are?"_

 _"_ _John Stewart," John told them._

 _"_ _Well, John Stewart," Ganthat told him. "Welcome to the Green Lantern Corp. We are universal policemen. We keep peace all across the universe. And all the Green Lanterns have a sector yours will include Earth. And you are currently on Oa the home of us, the Guardians. You were chosen because you have enormous amounts of willpower and because you can overcome great fear."_

 _"_ _Ok?" John was little confused and little unsure and little excited._

 _"_ _Now, you will put with another Green Lantern to begin your training," Ganthat said. "Katatui will be training you. There she is." A dark skinned female alien Green Lantern flew in._

 _"_ _Yes, Ganthat," Katatui said. "You called me."_

 _"_ _Yes, we want you to train our newest addition," Ganthat pointed to John. "His name is John Stewart. Do a good job."_

 _"_ _Yes, sir," Katatui then turned to John. "Well let's get going."_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"So that's how you became a member of the Green Lantern Corp," Hawkgirl said out loud.

"Yep," Lantern told her. He then stood of the floor as did Shayera and Wally. "After that was hard training and a lot of it."

"I don't doubt it," Shayera said with a smile.

 ** _Two years later_**

 _"_ _I don't believe it!" one of the Guardians yelled._

 _"_ _Calm down…" Ganthat began._

 _"_ _I can't calm down!" that same Guardian exclaimed._

 _"_ _Why not?" another Guardian asked in a criticizing way._

 _"_ _One, Sinestro has gone and traded for the yellow fear ring," the bad tempered Guardian began. "Two, he's taken out most of our Green Lanterns which are died, might I remind you. And the one's we have left aren't of any good use."_

 _"_ _You know we're right here," John interrupted._

 _"_ _Shut up Stewart!" the Guardian yelled._

 _"_ _Don't mind him John," Ganthat told him. "He has a bad temper." The only ones remaining were John, Katatui, Kilowag, and three others._

 _"_ _What chance do we have?" the bad tempered Guardian said in despair. After a couple of seconds John spoke up._

 _"_ _Sir," John began._

 _"_ _What!" the bad tempered Guardian snapped._

 _"_ _Well, when I was in the Marine corp. we were taught to think and battle out a plan before attacking. And to use each others strengths to beat the villain and not to just go in without a plan," John told the bad tempered Guardian. "We can beat Sinestro; we just need to fight smarter not harder."_

 _"_ _And who will be doing the strategizing?" the bad tempered asked with some sass._

 _"_ _How about John does the strategizing?" Ganthat asked the other Guardians. "He did do some strategizing in the Marines according what we have heard from him when he was telling us our history?"_

 _"_ _Alright!" the bad tempered Guardian shouted. "He can do it as long as I don't have to."_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"How is he a Guardian if he has such a bad temper?" Superman asked Lantern.

"And how do the other Guardians stand him?" Batman asked.

"He's a Guardian because he helped make the green rings and because even though he has a bad temper, he is a good person and wants peace and is a good fighter," John told Superman. Then he turned to Batman. "And how the other Guardians put up with him? I have no idea."

 ** _Back into the memories_**

 _"_ _Hey, Sinestro!" a young man exclaimed. He had brown hair, tan skin, and a domino black mask. Sinestro turned around to face the man. "Do aliens prefer trains, airplanes or cars for transpiration or do they just walk everywhere? And how do they go from planet to planet without a ring? Do they have a trains that can fly or teleporters? And are all aliens as bad smelling as you? I mean I could smell you all the way from Earth and we're miles and miles away from it."_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Seriously," Batman exclaimed. "He's fighting a villain and he's asking questions that aren't even relevant. And aren't even helping him or anyone else."

"Haa, haaaa, haaa, haaaa!" Flash was laughing his head off. And everyone then glared at him. "What it's funny!"

"No, it's not," Batman told him.

"It really isn't," Diana agreed. "And who is he anyways?"

"His name is Hal Jordan and he was the first human Green Lantern," John told them. "I was the second human to be one."

"And what is he doing?" Hippolyta asked.

"He's probably being the decoy or the distraction," Batman told her.

"You're right," John told him.

 ** _Back to the conversation in memories_**

 _Sinestro then make a claw with his ring and used it to grab Hal and throw him into a nearby asteroid._

 _"_ _You haven't changed a bit, Jordan," Sinestro told him. "You're still that brat that tries to make everyone laugh but falls to."_

 _"_ _So what are you going to do to me?" Jordan asked Sinestro. "Turn me into you pet or one of your Yellow Lantern Corp members?_

 _"_ _Actually, I don't know," Sinestro admitted. "I'm surprised you aren't putting much of a fight, Jordan. As much as that you're the only Green Lantern trying to stop me from destroying Oa. Are all the remaining Green Lanterns cowards?"_

 _"_ _No," Hal told him calmly. "They're just taking their sweet time, pea-brain." Then the rest of the Green Lanterns flew to where Sinestro and Hal were, all except John. He had been watching from behind one of the many asteroids and had been updating his team about Hal's progress at being the distraction. Then Sinestro was battling the other Green Lanterns, which were five in number. After a few minutes of battle the rest of the Green Lanterns were beaten and were starting to float away and Sinestro was praising his victory over the Green Lantern Corp. He was about to finish off the Green Lantern Corp members when John made his move. John removed Sinestro's ring from his finger and then John enclosed him in a bubble from his own ring. Sinestro was surprised and when he tried to use his ring to get out of the bubble he realized it was gone._

 _"_ _What?" Sinestro asked himself. "Where's my ring?"_

 _"_ _Right here," John told him as he showed him the yellow ring. "You loss Sinestro."_

 _"_ _NO!" Sinestro screamed. "I can not be beaten! I am Sinestro! The master of fear! I…"_

 _"_ _Need to be quiet," John told him. He then shock the bubble which caused Sinestro to be quiet._

 _"_ _Well that's that," Hal said interrupting the silence. "Now who wants pizza?"_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Now, that's my kind of guy," Flash exclaimed.

"So life as a Green Lantern isn't easy?" Diana asked Lantern.

"Not at all," John told her. "And the incident with Sinestro isn't that bad or as wacky compared the other stuff we deal with. You should have seen the incident with the Tofu people on Oa…"

"Alright time for the other woman," Hades interrupted. "How about you chose which woman to do just this once?"

"Thank you Hades," Mnemosyne said in gratitude. "How about the alien?"

"That's alright with me," Hades told her. Mnemosyne then waved her right hand and John's shackles stopped glowing and Hawkgirl's shackles began to glow and she began to scream in pain.

"Shayera!" Diana and John screamed and both raced to her side and prevented her fall. Hawkgirl then stopped screaming and the screen then changed.

 ** _Hawkgirl_**

 _"_ _Shayera, did I tell you that you could stop training!" a woman with red hair, blue eyes, and tan skin told her._

 _"_ _No you didn't mother," a nine year old Hawkgirl said with a sigh. The thing is she had been beating robots with her mace for about five minutes, which seem like long but when you're exercising and using all of your body it really makes you tired._

 _"_ _Then keep training!" her mother order._

 _"_ _Yes, mother," she replied. She was really exhausted and not to mention beaten up pretty bad. Another minute passed. Then her mother turned off the robots._

 _"_ _You can stop training now Shayera," her mother told her. Shayera then collapsed and was panting for breath._

 _"_ _That's all for today," her mother told her. "We will start again early tomorrow morning."_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"What!" Superman exclaimed. "You have some many injuries and have lost a lot of blood! You can barely stand, forget fighting."

"But that was the way it was on Thangar," Shayera told him calmly. "It was a training exercise for the war with the Gordanians. Because on that battlefield either you keep fighting wounded or die."

"Is that how it always was?" Flash asked.

"Yes," Hawkgirl told him. "That was what took up most of my childhood. Either you were training, dueling each other or fighting in war. There was very little rest and very little time to be a child."

 ** _That night on her bed and in her bedroom_**

 _"_ _Hey, girl," a man had spoken. His voice was calm and comforting. He was wearing his pajamas; they had little birds on them. He had green eyes, Asian skin color, and black hair. "How are you doing?"_

 _"_ _Alright, Dad," Shayera told him._

 _"_ _Are you sure?" he asked her._

 _"_ _I'm guess," she told him. "I'm…I'm just sick of all the training and being alone I…I" She was beginning to cry._

 _"_ _Shh," her father said quietly. He then hugged her. "It's okay. I know what you're going through and I know what it's like to be alone. But you're not. I'll always be here with you. And even if I go I'll always be here." When he said, "here" he pointed to her heart._

 _"_ _Thanks Dad," she told him quietly._

 _"_ _Anytime," he told her. "And don't worry I'm always here if you need to talk to someone."_

 **In real life and in cage**

"You're father seems like a good man," Diana told Shayera.

"He was a good man," Shayera told her as a tear ran down her face.

 ** _Two decades later in memory time_**

 _'_ _Why am I in the military and as a lieutenant none the less?' Shayera asked herself. 'Because we all have to fight and serve in the military. We don't have a chose. And added on to that I'm betrothed to the commander who I love but he does let me be myself. Or at least let me stop being a solider or a lover and let me be a person. Why is it that I'm the one who get stuck in this mess?'_

 _She was sick of the military and sick of having no one to talk to with her issues. But now was not the time now was the time to change. She looked at the graves in the graveyard under a red sun with the same colored sky. She was wearing her military outfit (_ _ **seen in the episode three parter Starcrossed**_ _). She was glancing at one grave in particular the one that belonged to her father. He had died due to the war a few years pervious. The thing is he was old and getting slower and due to that he fell in battle._

 _"_ _Hey, Dad," she said to the grave. "I miss you. You meant so much to me. You were the only one to let me be myself not a warrior but as a person. I felt like I could tell you anything that I was feeling and that I didn't have to lie to you." As she was saying this tears were falling down her face. "I love and I miss you but I won't forget you. Like everyone else did. I promise."_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Shayera," Superman began. "I'm sorry." Shayera, John, and Diana then stood up. Once they were off the ground Shayera put her head down. Flash also told her he was sorry for her loss as did John and Diana. Batman just put his hand on her shoulder.

 ** _Few months later_**

 _"_ _Li_ _ **e**_ _utenant Hol," Commander Hiro Talak in his military uniform (_ _ **see Starcrossed episode three parter**_ _). "You have been chosen to spy out a planet that we have not been able to contact and would like to know more about. Can you do it?"_

 _"_ _Yes, sir," Shayera replied._

 _"_ _You now that once you land on this planet that you need to keep this mission a secret. So no matter who you meet or what happens you keep this quiet. Are you still up to it?" the Commander asked her._

 _"_ _Yes," she replied. "What's the planet?"_

 _"_ _Earth," he told her. (_ **Now all the leaguers were shocked and surprised** _) "Now time to swear the oath of secrecy."_

 _"_ _I, Lieutenant Shayera Hol," She began. "Swear to…"_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Shayera?" Diana asked in confusion. "Is it true?"

"Yes," Shayera told her trying to hold back tears. "Yes it." The tears fell and she cried and began to sob. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I wanted to tell you guys but. But I couldn't break the promise. I'm sorry. I really wanted to tell you. You all were so kind and good to me. And you treated me like a person for once. I'm sorry I betrayed your trust." She cried her heart out and Diana then gave her a hug and Hawkgirl continued to cry. A few minutes pasted and all in the cage, minus Aresia who didn't care, Diana who was holding Shayera and Shayera who was crying away, had their heads down in respect but none could shed a tear.

 ** _On Earth at night, in the memories_**

 _Shayera, after a rough couple of weeks, had finally reached Earth. She didn't know what to do. She had landed in countryside outside a city, which was a few miles away. She saw a sign that said, 'Welcome to Metropolis'. She then flew over the city and saw a bank robbery in progress. She knew that stealing was wrong on any world. She then dove down and with her mace took down the bank robbers without even touching the ground. She then left them on the side of the road that the bank was on. She then flew up into the sky and out of the reach of buildings and then looked down to see what happened to the robbers._

 _Police cars then showed up at the bank and some policemen then came out. They then noticed that the robbers were unconscious. Superman then flew in from the city streets._

 _"_ _Good job, Superman," one of the policemen said._

 _"_ _Captain, I didn't catch these men," Superman told him._

 _"_ _If you didn't then who did?" the Captain asked._

 _"_ _Maybe one of the robbers can tell us," Superman suggested. They then went over to one of the robbers, who were back to back in a circle. Superman then slapped one of the robbers and he immediately woke up._

 _"_ _Superman?" the male robber questioned._

 _"_ _Who knock you out?" Superman asked her._

 _"_ _I don't know," he told him. "It was a girl with wings. It was some sort of hawk girl."_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"So you were the one who took out those robbers a few years ago," Superman realized.

"Yep," Hawkgirl told him with her head still down. "I was doing little things like that for a couple days until the league was formed."

"Well thanks for taking care of them," Superman told her. "I was just coming back after an incident on the other side of the globe and wouldn't have made it in time to stop them. So thanks."

"You're welcome," Shayera told him. Her head was a now a little higher and had a smile on her tear stained face.

"Let's make the transition now," Hades told Mnemosyne quietly.

"Agreed," Mnemosyne responded.

"Let's do my old lover's daughter," Hades told her. "I'm curious about what her mind holds." But no one in the cage heard them. Then Hawkgirl's shackles stopped glowing. Then Wonder Woman screamed in pain and her shackles glowed.

"Diana!" all of the ones in the cage screamed even Aresia, who did it on instinct because once a sister always a sister. Both her mother and Batman raced to brace her from hitting the ground face first. Once Diana stopped screaming due to the pain two things happened. The first thing was that the memory screen changed; the other thing that happened was that Hippolyta looked into Batman's eyes in surprise and in disbelief. For she was a little more than upset that a MAN had come to brace her daughter and that Diana didn't mind it. But Hippolyta said nothing for the screen had begun to change and she did not want to miss this.

 **Note from the Author: Sorry it took so long to get this up. This has been a really hard chapter to write. And writing is harder than it looks especially when you don't have much to work with. Don't worry though; the next chapter will be done sooner.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I used some scenes from Justice League, Man of Steel, and Superman the Animated Series and I own rights to none. This is just for fun.**

Chapter 4: Wonder Woman and Superman

 ** _Wonder Woman_**

 _"_ _Diana, could you come here?" Hippolyta asked._

 _"_ _Yes, mother," replied a nine year old Diana as she walked over to her mother._

 _"_ _I think you're ready to begin training in our art," her mother told her calmly. She then took out a small sword which was in her sheathe on her hip and threw it to Diana and she caught it._

 _"_ _You will begin training with Artemis after lunch," Hippolyta told her._

 ** _After lunch and in the arena_**

 _"_ _Artemis!" Hippolyta shouted._

 _"_ _Yes, my queen," Artemis responded as she came in bowing. Diana noticed that she was wearing her leather armor._

 _"_ _I think Diana's ready to be taught in the arts of war," Hippolyta told her. "Would you see that she is trained properly?"_

 _"_ _Of course my queen," Artemis responded. Artemis turned to Diana who was just standing a few feet away in mist of this conversation that Artemis was having with her mother._

 _"_ _I'll leave you to it Artemis," Hippolyta told them. "O, and go easy on her Artemis this is her first time I'll be in the horse stable if you need me." Hippolyta then left to go to the stables to ride her horse, Olympia, which was named after her mother. Once Hippolyta had left Artemis turned to Diana who turned to her._

 _"_ _We'll start with simple offence and defense maneuvers first and then we will go onto more advanced techniques," Artemis told Diana. Artemis then turned away from Diana and head toward the shed on the rim of the circular arena. A few minutes later Artemis returned with a golden hilted sword with a short, straight blade and a leather breastplate. She then threw the sword to Diana and she caught it by the hilt._

 _"_ _Put the breastplate on and the sheathe, with the belt, around your hip," Artemis instructed. Diana obeyed. "Now." Artemis gave the yellow and red shield to Diana and took out her own sword. "I think we are ready to begin." She then did a thrust at Diana and she blocked it out of pure instinct. Both were now engaged in a duel. Now Artemis was barely trying and sometimes not even looking at Diana. Diana on the other hand was struggling to keep up and wasn't doing well. Finally, Artemis flung the sword out of Diana's hand and pointed her own at Diana's throat._

 _"_ _Not bad for a beginner," Artemis stated. She then lowered her sword and went to where Diana's sword laid and gave it back to Diana. "Take good care of your sword, Diana."_

 _"_ _I will," Diana promised._

 _"_ _Tomorrow, we will do archery," Artemis told her as she walked away. "Met me at the archery rage tomorrow morning after breakfast. DON'T be late."_

 _"_ _Yes, madam," Diana responded._

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Was she always that hard on you with training?' Jonn' asked.

"Yes, except usually I had armor on," Diana responded. "At first it was basic instinct that kept me alive. But later it grew into muscle memory. Once it did it got easier."

"When did they start teaching you that men were evil?" Flash asked.

"That was something they always told me when I was in school," Diana told him. "They told me all the time and I even had to write a paper for school about why they were evil."

"Ok," Flash responded. "That's a little too much."

"You only say that because you're a man," Aresia interrupted.

"For once Flash, I agree with you," Shayera said quietly. "That's a little too much. Even if it's a belief in a society that's…"

"Overkill," Flash finished.

"Overkill?" Jonn', Shayera, Hippolyta, and Diana were confused.

"It means too much," Flash assured them.

"O," the three women and Martian were unconfused.

"Well it's overkill then," Shayera responded.

 ** _A few years later in memory time in the school area_**

 _"_ _Diana, Aresia, I have an assignment for you," a woman told her. They were in the 'school'. The 'school' was in small part of the arena. The woman had dark skin, darker hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a white tunic with a golden belt and shoes._

 _"_ _What is it teacher?" a nineteen year old, Diana asked._

 _"_ _You are to use our library to write a five paragraph essay on men and their ways," the teacher told her student. "Understand?"_

 _"_ _Yes, madam," Diana replied._

 _"_ _Class is dismissed so you can begin working on the essay right away," her teacher told her. While Aresia, who was ten years of age, went to her room to work on the paper, since she already knew what men were like. Diana then ran to the library to begin her research. She then reached the library. The library was a large white building with blue trim and it had windows and door but they had no glass or wood on either. She then entered the library and went over to the desk and saw her teacher's sister, who looked like her teacher except she had dark green eyes._

 _"_ _Hello, Diana," her teacher's sister said calmly._

 _"_ _Hello, Miss," Diana replied._

 _"_ _Has my sister given you another essay to write?" her teacher's sister asked._

 _"_ _Yes, she has," Diana told her. "Speaking of which do you know were I can find scrolls about men and their ways?"_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Scrolls?" Flash was confused. Diana was about to respond but Batman beat her to it.

"Scrolls are what people use to use to write information before books," Batman told the scarlet speeder.

"O," Flash replied. "That's makes sense."

 ** _Back into the memories_**

 _"_ _O, those scrolls?" the teacher's sister began. "They are in the section to your right."_

 _"_ _Thank you," Diana replied._

 _"_ _You're welcome," the teacher's sister told her._

 _Diana walked to her right and found the section that read in Greek, "Men and their ways"._

 _"_ _This is going to be a long day," she told herself._

 **In real life and in the cage**

"They had a whole section of what they thought men were like?" John asked.

"What we KNEW men were like," Hippolyta corrected him. "And how they still are."

"Whatever," John told Hippolyta.

"To answer your question John. Yes, they did," Diana told him.

 ** _A week later_**

 _"_ _Diana, have you finished your essay?" her teacher asked._

 _"_ _Yes, I did," Diana told her. "And I brought it with me."_

 _"_ _Could you read to me the intro to me?" her teacher asked her._

 _"_ _Of course," Diana replied. She then took out of her saddle bag a scroll with a seal and ribbon. She then untied the ribbon and put the top part of the scroll in her right hand and the bottom part in her left. She stood up, cleared her throat, and began to read what she had written._

 _"_ _Men are very complicated and different from women. Their bodies are different from women's as well as they are different from themselves. Some men, like Adolph Hitler, are evil, cruel and monsters to men, women and children. While others, like Martin Luther King Jr., are good, kind and see all people, male or female, black or white, as human beings and not as animals. While good men do make mistakes, like woman do, they also learn from them and become better. So as there are different types of women there are different types of men." Her teacher and Aresia were shocked. She had not expected Diana to defend men, not all men but some men, and that's what really shocked her._

 _"_ _Well," her teacher said once she got her voice back. "How about you give me your report and I will give you a grade." Diana rolled up her scroll, put the seal and ribbon back on, and gave it to her teacher and then sat back down. She then turned to Aresia. "How about you read us your intro, Aresia?" Aresia stood up, removed the ribbon and seal, opened the scroll and read her intro._

 _"_ _Men are nothing but evil, cowards and pigs. It has been seen all through out history. Like Adolph Hitler, are murderers and cruel toward even their own kind. And when he was going to go down he killed himself so he would avoid justice. This is one of many incidents where men are cruel and don't care about anyone else who gets hurt as long as they get what they want." Diana was little surprised at what Aresia had written, since she came from Man's World, but she realized she should have expected it. Aresia was traumatized by Man's World so of course she would label all the bad things._

 **In real life and in the cage**

"You DEFENDED men!" Hippolyta exclaimed.

"I ACCURATELY depicted men," Diana told her mother as she, her mother, and lover stood up.

"You were right," Flash told her. "Some men are evil while others are good. Just like women." All the women in the cage then looked at him with a look that said, 'Really?' "What, it's true!"

"What I don't get is how you have access to current events," Superman said. Adolph Hitler and Martin Luther King Jr. didn't live that long ago." He then turned to Hippolyta. "How did you get access to resent thing?"

"Athena gave us the information in the form of scrolls," Hippolyta told him. "She gives us updates about what is going on in Man's World."

 ** _Few days later_**

 _"_ _Hey, Diana! Can we talk?" Aresia asked as she ran up to Diana. Diana was heading toward the archery field to practice before bed. She slowed down so that Aresia could catch up to her._

 _"_ _Of course," Diana told her. "What do you want to talk about?"_

 _"_ _I want to talk about your essay," Aresia said. "Why did you defend men? Even though you have never met a man nor been to Man's World."_

 _"_ _Well," Diana began. She paused for a little bit. "I think it is unjust to label all men as evil and corrupt when some men, according to the scrolls Athena sent, are nothing of the sort. Plus there have been some bad women in history as well. Would it be fair to say all women are bad just because those women where?"_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"All too true," Green Lantern said to the air.

"Do you still agree with what you said after seeing Man's World?" Aresia asked.

"Yes," Diana replied. "I know agree with it more than ever. I've met plenty of bad women, like Cheetah and Morgan le Fay, but I've also met some good ones too. Like some of the female firefighters that risk there lives to save others."

"And men?" Aresia points out.

"Well," Diana starts. "I have met some bad men, like Lex Luthor and Copperhead, but I've also met some good ones as well. Like the men I work with they are willing to lay down their lives to help and protect a society that owns them nothing. And their powers? They could have used them to rule Man's World but instead they use them to protect it. And don't say that prevents them from falling into that corruption. Because there are men, like Sinestro, who have power but use it to try to concur Man's World and destroy it. So powers don't equal purity."

"But what about ordinary men?" Hippolyta exclaimed. "Ordinary men who have no powers. Are they all not corrupt?!"

"No," Diana tells her mother. "They are not all corrupt. When I first came to Man's World during the alien invasion I saw two men, who have no powers, trying to lift a huge piece of concert because there were children underneath it, one male and the other female. They probably didn't even know the kids yet they cared that about their lives. Beside those two, I know a man, a mortal with no powers, who risks his life to save others and stop criminals, man or woman, every night and puts his life on the line to save a city that owns him nothing." The league had a good idea who she was talking about and were surprised. She was talking about, and describing one of their own members, who was a part timer and put his city before the league. But Aresia and Hippolyta didn't know who she was talking about and wanted to know who she was talking about but memory screen was changing and they didn't want to miss what happened next.

 ** _A couple decades later_**

 _Being an Amazon had its advantages. One of them is being immortal and once you're young adult you stop aging. Ever though Diana was in her 40s, and should be getting grey hairs, she looked she did when she was 20. It also gave her time to develop an extreme curiosity of what Man's World was like. But her mother, teacher, and sisters had only told her that it was an evil place and where men rule cruelly. She thought it was something else and that it might be different, since the Man's World they had known was centuries ago. Why didn't she go into Man's World? Well, she didn't really have a good reason to go and she didn't know whether or not she would want to stay there. Since if she left Themiscyria she probably wouldn't be able to return to it. Currently though, she figured that she would stay here until she was absolutely sure she wanted to go to Man's World._

 _It was about noon on Themiscyria, the sun was high in the sky. Diana and her mother were riding horses on one of the beaches and were currently looking out to the sea. Her horse, Strawberry, was getting a little riled up._

 _"_ _Easy girl, easy," Diana told her calmly. Strawberry calmed down. Diana turned to her mother. "These omens don't boad well, mother. Mankind maybe facing its darkest hour." She was telling her mother of the aliens whom Hermes had told her and her mother of, when he visited the previous day._

 _"_ _Then mankind will have to face it alone," her mother told her._

 _"_ _How can you say that?!" Diana exclaimed upset._

 _"_ _What ever happens beyond these shores is not our problem to deal with it," her mother told her. She then began to ride off. "Here the gods will protect us."_

 _"_ _I hope you are right," Diana responded. She then followed her mother back to the palace stable. After they had dismounted and put their horse in the stables they head back to the palace._

 _"_ _Mother, what if Man's World is not what it was when you were there?" Diana asked. "What if it has changed?"_

 _"_ _It has not changed Diana," Hippolyta told her. "Men do not change and as long as men are alive Man's World will never be any different. For men are the cause of all the suffering there."_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"So that's how life was on Themiscyria," Clark wondered out loud.

"Yep," Diana told him.

"Did Hippolyta always tell you that when you asked about Man's World?" Flash asked her.

"Yes," Hippolyta and Diana responded at the same time. Diana then continued. "So I was very surprised when I met you and the others, who were nothing like I had been told."

 ** _That night_**

 _Diana didn't know what had compelled her to do this. But something told her that she needed to defend Man's World and that she would figure out all the details later. She was approaching the statue of Athena where at the base laid her armor. She was wearing a lilac purple cloak with a hood and undergarments. Once she got to the statue she took off the hood._

 _"_ _Mother, forgive me," Diana told the air._

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Forgive you, Diana?" Hippolyta asked.

"Sorry, for leaving without your permission," Diana began with tears in her eyes. "Sorry, for abandoning my home, my sisters, and you. Sorry, for everything." She then went to the ground and shed a few tears and her mother did the same and gave her a hug. Everyone was surprised by Hippolyta's act of kindness and it showed on their faces but the leaguers were more surprised about how Diana was wiling given up and leave behind so much just so they could know that she existed.

The two broke up the hug and Diana stopped crying. Both stood up and Hippolyta told her, "I forgive you."

 ** _A few months later_**

 _They had just finished defeating Hades and saving the Amazons from being stone. The men were in front of Hippolyta, who was on her throne with her daughter on the ground to her left, and the Amazon soldiers were on both sides of Hippolyta's throne, behind the men and to the left and right of the group._

 _"_ _As a reward for your assistance in the defeat of the dread Lord, Hades, you have earned our eternal gratitude," Hippolyta told them. "Before you go, though, please except these gifts." The gifts were a golden head wreath and were presented to each man by a different Amazon. Superman's was given to him by Diana, Batman's by Diana's teacher, Flash's by Artemis, and Jonn's by Diana's teacher's sister. Flash put his on his head while the others held it in their hands and let it stay at their side. "You are all truly heroes."_

 _"_ _Thank you, your majesty," Superman told her with a bow._

 _"_ _Diana, Princess of Themiscyria, please step forward," her mother told her. Diana turned around to face her mother. "As your mother, I am pleased that you have returned to us." Diana smiled but Hippolyta had a frown. "But as your queen, I must up hold the law of Themiscyria." Worry spread across Diana's face; she knew what was going to happen next._

 _"_ _But mother," she began to protest. Hippolyta put her hand up for silence._

 _"_ _It is with a heavy heart, that for bring these outsiders here, that I must exile you from Themiscyria," Hippolyta told her slowly._

 _"_ _What!" Superman whispered._

 _"_ _No fair!" Flash protested. "She risked her butt to save you guys! You can't just…"_

 _"_ _No," Diana said. "I humbly accept your judgment. Goodbye, mother." She then turned away and walked toward the javelin with her head down._

 _"_ _Amazons," Artemis said. "About face." The Amazons, which were on each side of her, were five in number, put up their spears and slanted them at an angle so it made a tunnel. Flash turned around to see her leaving._

 _"_ _You're just going to walk away!" Flash exclaimed. "This is so bogus!" Batman then pulled him over to where he was and turned him on his side so Batman could whisper in his ear._

 _"_ _Don't make this harder than it already is," Batman whispered in Flash's ear. The leaguer then headed back to the javelin with Diana leading, Jonn' second, Superman third, Flash fourth, and Batman last._

 _"_ _Diana," Jonn' said as he put her hand on her shoulder._

 _"_ _Let's go," Diana responded as she began to walk up the ramp of the javelin and the rest followed her. Diana sat one of the back seats, Flash middle row along with Superman, while Batman sat in the pilot seat and Jonn' sat in the co-pilot seat. Diana was sniffing and trying to hold back tears all the way to the Watchtower. Once they got there Diana walked out of the javelin and out of the landing bay. Once the door to the landing bay closed behind her she ran to her quarters, full speed. When she was in it; she ran to the bed collapsed onto it and cried her heart out._

 **In real life and in the cage**

"I'm sorry, Diana," Hippolyta told her daughter while trying to hold back tears. "I'm so sorry. I hated doing it and I regret doing it. I'm sorry." Diana went over to embrace her crying mother.

"I forgive you, mother," Diana told her with tears in her eyes.

"Alright, alright," Hades was annoyed by all the mushy, gushy stuff. "Now it's time for the Boy Scout." Once he said that Superman's shackles began to glow and he began to scream in pain.

"Superman!" exclaimed Diana, John, Wally, and Shayera as horror speared across all the leaguer's faces.

"Clark!" Bruce said as he raced to his friend's side, who was more like a brother to him. The screaming stopped but shackles were still glowing.

"Now let's see what's in your head," Hades said in a spooky, monotone voice.

 ** _Superman_**

 _"_ _Clark?" said the teacher, who had her blonde hair in a bun, her blue eyes starting at Clark, and whose white skin was snow and was wearing a red dress with heels to match. "Are you ok? You didn't answer my question. Clark, could you look at me?"_

 _But Clark wasn't listening more like he was listening but he wasn't thinking. He was seeing her as well but he didn't know what to think of it. And Clark heard and saw_ _ **EVERYTHING**_ _. He heard the clock ticking, his classmates' whispers and their heartbeats, and he heard the doors slamming from classrooms that were yards away. He saw the teacher's skeleton and internal organs when he looked up and saw her, and he saw the classroom that was in front of his own. And it_ _ **HURT**_ _his head. So much he raced out of the classroom and into a nearby storage closet._

 _"_ _Clark!" his teacher exclaimed as she followed him. When she approached the closet with the rest of her 24 students she realized that the door was locked. She then called his mom, Martha Kent. When Martha arrived she saw the students and she saw the closet door which Clark had been hiding in for the last half hour._

 _"_ _Clark," she said. "Could you please come out?" There was a pause. "Clark, what's wrong?"_

 _"_ _The world's just too big mommy," he replied from the closet._

 _"_ _Then make it a little smaller," his mom replied. "Pretend that I'm a ship in the middle of an ocean and you're a sailor who fell over board. Swim to me so that I might help you." After thinking that through Clark finally opened the closet door and came out. "Clark." His mom sighed of relief and gave her son a big hug._

 ** _A few days later_**

 _"_ _Clark!" said a young woman with long brown hair, emerald eyes, and tan skin._

 _"_ _Coming, mom!" said a nine year old Clark Kent. He came inside the small house which was on a long grassy field in Kansas. When he came inside he saw his dad, who had brown hair, brown eyes, and tan skin, and he did not look happy._

 _"_ _Hey, dad," Clark said in a nervous voice._

 _"_ _Hey, Clark," Jonathan Kent responded. "Look we need to talk." There was a pause. "It's about your (pause) abilities."_

 _"_ _Ok," Clark said a little confused and nervous at the same time._

 _"_ _Well, while you two do that. I'm going to make dinner," Martha told them. Then she left to go to the kitchen and begin cooking, leaving the men alone in the living room._

 _"_ _So, what about my abilities?" Clark asked him._

 _"_ _Well, I think you have the right to know why you have them," Jonathan told Clark. They then left the house, with Jonathan leading, and head to the barn. The barn was a pale red building with a slated roof, two very big doors, and a large opening on the second floor that looked like a window without glass. Once they got to it they went inside and looked as it normally did. He kept following his dad though and saw a nine feet long, one foot wide, and two feet high wooden box. Jonathan then opened the box and inside it was a small white spaceship big enough to fit a small baby. Clark was shocked to say the least._

 _"_ _What is it?" Clark asked Jonathan. He walked up to the box and looked inside it to get a better look at it._

 _"_ _This is what me and Martha found you in," Jonathan told him. "We both were driving home from Smallville and we found this in a field that was on our left. When Martha found this." He pointed to the spaceship. "She looked inside and found you, a small three year old baby boy. And we took you in and named you Clark, since we didn't know your birth name." Clark then looked up from the spaceship and turned to face his adopted father._

 _"_ _So what am I doing here?" Clark asked._

 _"_ _We don't know," Jon responded. "But I do know that you were brought here for a reason. Maybe one day you'll find out what that reason is."_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"So did you then decide to use your powers to fight for good and dawn the cape and costume?" Flash asked Superman.

"No," He told him. "Not yet. That happened later."

 ** _In the Artic in his twenties_**

 _He didn't know why he was here. He was in the Artic Circle and he didn't even know why. Maybe it was the GPS thing, well it worked like a GPS but looked like an Iphone from Apple, he found in his rocket telling him to go here. He still didn't understand why he was even going to this place. Probably because he was desperate for answers about were he came from and why he was here._

 _Whatever the reason was he was in the Artic and nearly at his destination. The beeping dimmed down and he saw where he had been going. His destination was a crystal like fortress and was humungous. It was the size of a Statue of Liberty height wise, it was as wide as it was tall, and was in a circular shape._

 _Clark then walked in and looked around and he was surprised. He then looked straight and saw a small device that looked like an I Pod Touch. He then walked over to it bent down and picked it up. He touched it and the red curvy lines on it turned into the famous S symbol. A light came out of it and projected an image of a tall man with blue eyes, brown hair, and a beard._

 _"_ _Hello, son," the man said._

 _"_ _You're my father?" Clark asked confused._

 _"_ _Yes," he told his son. "My name is Jor-el. I'm from the planet, Krypton, which is now died. Me and my wife, your mother, sent you in a rocket to Earth to save you from the explosion of our planet. We named you Kal-el."_

 _"_ _How do I have these powers?" Kal asked._

 _"_ _Earth's yellow sun gives your powers," Jor-el told him. "Its gravity is weaker than Krypton's so you have the ability to fly." He then showed him the symbol darkens on his chest. "This is the symbol of the house of El. On Krypton it means hope. That is what you can give the people of Earth. But they will stumble and fall but they will join you in time. In time you will help them be something great."_

 _"_ _And what is this place?" Kal asked._

 _"_ _It is called the Fortress of Solitude," Jor-el told him. "It is a Krytonian structure that was built here hundreds of years ago when we were settling all over the galaxy. But then we ran out of resources on the planets that we settled and had to go back to Krypton."_

 _"_ _How am I supposed to help the people with out them hurting the people I love here?" Clark asked._

 _"_ _You can wear the armor that the house of El left behind years ago," Jor-el told him._

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Then you dawned the costume and cape?" Flash asked.

"You got it," Superman told him.

 ** _Few months later in memory time_**

 _"_ _Lois!" a dark skinned man with a beard and mustache in a grey suit said._

 _"_ _Yeah, Perry," Lois Lane asked him._

 _"_ _I want you to met Clark Kent," Perry White told her. "He is going to be your new partner in the world of news." Clark Kent then turned to Lois and they shock hands and let go._

 _"_ _Hello, Clark," Lois said. "Welcome, to the Daily Planet."_

 ** _A few years later_**

 _Lois was in trouble. She was in a crane with Jimmy Olson getting pictures of the ground below where Lex was showing off his new armor. The crane's support beams had been jeopardized or melted so much that the weight of Lois and Jimmy in it was too much for it and was beginning to fall over. The crane was starting to fall on the, now, screaming crowd. Luthor was able to use his new suit to stop the crane from falling but failed to notice Lois falling out of it. Superman appeared and saved a screaming Lois, got her on the ground, and fixed the crane. The crowds' screams turned into applause to both Luthor and Superman._

 _The reason that happened in the first place is because Luthor jeopardized the crane to make himself look like a hero. Superman knew that's what happened but he had no evidence to go by so Luthor was out of jail, for now. Superman then went to Lois._

 _"_ _You alright Lois?" Superman asked, this wasn't the first time he had saved her and had since learned her name._

 _"_ _I'm fine," Lois told him. "Thanks."_

 _"_ _You're welcome," Superman responded._

 _"_ _Hey, you want to hang out or something?" Lois asked him._

 _"_ _Like what?" Superman was curious._

 _"_ _I mean do something else besides having you save me or I save you or me covering a story," Lois told him. "Like have a picnic lunch or something."_

 _"_ _That sounds good," Superman responded. "How about tomorrow when you have your lunch break? We can have it on top of the Daily Planet?"_

 _"_ _Sounds good," Lois said. "I'll bring the food. See you then."_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Was that how you began your relationship with her?" Batman asked Clark.

"Yes," Clark said as he stood up with his friend/brother. "We started with that and then expanded pone it."

"What do you mean relationship…" Hippolyta began until she realized she knew the answer to her own question. "You mean as in a love relationship?"

"Yep," Clark told her. "She fell in love with me when I rescued her from some crazy danger at the beginning of my career. Later she saved me from a giant robot T-rex in a museum by throwing the small chunk of kryptonite in a lead vase. And I began to fall in love with her. And don't think she's just a damsel in distress. She really is a something else. A strong, independent and stubborn woman."

 ** _The next afternoon_**

 _Superman flew to where he was supposed to meet Lois. He saw her on a checker blanket with a wooden basket. He went over to her and he sat down with her._

 _"_ _Look," he said with his head down. "There's something I need to tell you before we start lunch." He then pulled out his glass, placed them on his nose and behind his ears, and lifted his head. "I'm Clark Kent and I'm Superman." He told her calmly._

 _"_ _About time you told me, Smallville," Lois replied with a smile. Clark took off his glass and beheld a bewildered face._

 _"_ _You knew?" he asked._

 _"_ _Of course I knew, Smallville," she told him. "I'm not dumb, plus how else could you so accurately depict Superman without ever meeting him." She had a smile and glow around her the whole time see talked. Superman also had a big grin on his face._

 _"_ _Want to start lunch now that's out of the way?" Clark asked._

 _"_ _You bet," Lois told him. They began to eat the lunch with smiles and told tales of each other's childhoods and laughed. But the whole time Clark felt human and happy for he was with the woman he loved more any other one, minus his mother._

 ** _A few years later as a flashback_**

 _Superman had been tricked. He now realized that the tip he had received from a "reformed resident of Apocalypse" that Darkseid was going to attack Earth and had even been given directions how to get into his ship. He should have known something was wrong. It had been too easy, too straight forward and too out of the blue. He had fallen for one of Darkseid's tricks. He was walking on the bridge of his ship in the dark when the lights turned on and a red sun generator came on with it and he became weak. Darkseid walked onto the bridge and came up to Superman strong. Granny Goodness, Darkseid's brainwasher helper, came up with him. Granny brought with her a screen with the hypnotic spiral on it. She showed the screen to Superman when he looked up to see who had come._

 _"_ _Repeat after me," Granny Goodness told Clark. "I do not want to fight us; you want to help us."_

 _"_ _I do not want you; I want…" Clark began. "NO! I won't let you control me!"_

 _"_ _O, but we will," Darkseid said._

 _"_ _You do not want to fight us; you want to help us," Granny Goodness repeated._

 _"_ _I…I….I," Kal began. "I do not want to fight you….; I… want to help you."_

 _"_ _That's a good boy," Granny told him._

 ** _A few weeks later_**

 _"_ _You called, Father," Kal said as he bowed to Darkseid. He was wearing black armor with a yellow circle in the middle generating yellow sunlight._

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Father?!" exclaimed Jonn', Shayera, Diana, Flash and John. Superman had his head down. This wasn't something he was proud of.

"Darkseid brainwashed him," Batman told him. "Forced him to do things he would have never done of his own free will. He assisted Darkseid in taking other planets for a few weeks before his BIG move." Clark turned to them.

"That's right," Clark told them. "That scene before this one was the beginning of the brainwashing." He then turned to Batman. "How did you all the details?" Batman turned to Superman.

"I didn't," Batman told Kal. "It was a hunch."

"A very ACCURATE hunch," Kal exclaimed.

 ** _Back into the memories_**

 _"_ _Yes," Darkseid said as he sat on his throne, which was in the command center. "I want you to go and conquer Earth. And to destroy anyone who gets in your way."_

 _"_ _Yes, sir," Superman said._

 _"_ _And do it without the helmet," Darkseid added._

 _"_ _Of course, it shall be done," Kal said._

 ** _On Earth at night_**

 _Superman had returned to Earth in the armor Darkseid had given him, but of course he didn't have the helmet on. Once he reached Metropolis he started shooting laser beams at certain buildings, which didn't have people in them since the work day was over. It was phase one of conquering a planet, getting the leaders' and heroes' attention. The next phase would be to decimate them, or kill. Third phase would be to scatter the rest of the resistant forces. After that you will have a planet under your control._

 _Superman had gotten the attention of Supergirl, the US Military, and Lex Luthor. The military went head on to fight them even though some were shocked at this development. The US Military tried to use their missiles to stop him but to no avail, Superman destroyed the tanks and the armies fled. But none of the men died and no one knows why. Maybe it was because there was still a little bit of the Kansas farm boy in the puppet Superman and that's how it was with the other planets no one died not even the former leaders. Lex Luthor made a deal with the general that he disagreed to. The general would borrow Lex's Kryptonite and put it into a missal to fire at Superman. But the general disagreed due to the fact that there wasn't much clarity on where Lex got it and how he got it and the general didn't want to get in trouble with the law if they survived this._

 _Supergirl was shocked at what she was hearing and seeing on the TV in Smallville, Kansas. She, after putting on her uniform, flew over to Metropolis to talk to her cousin. Once she arrived she saw her cousin and flew over to him, he was above the Daily Planet and was about to use heat vision on it._

 _"_ _Superman, snap out of it," Supergirl begged. "This isn't you."_

 _"_ _It is now," Superman said formally. "Now get out of my way."_

 _"_ _Kal, it's me, Kara," Supergirl said. "Your cousin from Krypton. Your only living relative from Krypton. I don't know what's going on but please let me help."_

 _"_ _Kara?" Supergirl was starting to break through his mind controlled state._

 _"_ _Kal?" Supergirl questioned. Superman then returned to puppet stage and tossed her aside. He was about to use his heat vision at max power on the Daily Planet when Kara grabbed Superman and threw him down into the abandon street below. She then flew down to her cousin._

 _"_ _Kal, don't make me hurt you," Supergirl said. But Superman wasn't listening and got right back up and flew her into a nearby abandoned building. The fight continued with Superman mainly holding the edge. The fought with fists, heat vision and pure strength but in the end Superman won. Supergirl was on the ground in a field outside of Metropolis bleeding and dying._

 _"_ _Kal," she said in a raspy voice. Superman turned to see his cousin on the ground. "I love you. Good-bye." She then fell into unconsciousness. Superman finally broke free from the trance and saw what he had done and he was HORRIFIED._

 _"_ _No," he whispered as he flew over to her. "Kara." He carried her to the hospital and was crying all the way. They got her a bed and got Dr. Hamilton on the phone and told him what had happened. Superman, who had discarded his Apocalypiliptic armor, was in the in her hospital room and in a chair near the bed holding her hand._

 _"_ _Superman," a female doctor had come into the door and she was wearing her doctor outfit. Superman then stood up and turned to Kara as the doctor went toward her bed._

 _"_ _Will she be alright?" Clark asked her._

 _"_ _She's going to need to go into surgery but no need to worry she'll live," the nurse told him. "Also Dr. Hamilton brought a machine with a Kryptonite trip so we can do surgery. And you'll have to leave after during that."_

 _"_ _Can I stay a little longer?" Kal asked the nurse._

 _"_ _Of course," the nurse said as she exited the room._

 _"_ _Kara, I don't know if you can hear me," Kal told her. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." He was shedding tears and was trying to wipe them away. "Please, come back to us, to me, if you don't I'll never forgive myself."_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Whoa," Flash said. "I guess no one's life is a fairy tale."

"What?" Hippolyta and Diana asked.

"It means no one's life is all easy and pleasant," Green Lantern told them.

"O," Hippolyta and Diana realized.

"Clark," Shayera began. "That's a nice name."

"Thanks, Shayera," Superman replied.

"Now, who should go next?" Hades wondered. "O, I know. How about the Martian." Jonn' Jonzz's shackles glowed and he screamed in pain.

"Jonn'!" the leaguer exclaimed and all leaguer looked horrified as Superman raced to his friend's side. The pain ceased but the glowing didn't stop.

"Now let's see what's inside your head, Martian," Hades said in his monotone before the memory screen changed. And then the memories began.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** **I used scenes from the TV Show** **Justice League** **for these two and I don't own the right to the show or the characters exedra, exedra.**

Chapter 5: Jonn' Jonzz and Aresia

 ** _Jonn' Jonzz_**

 _"_ _Jonn' are you alright?" said a female green Martian._

 _"_ _Yes, I'm alright M'yri'ah," an adult Jonn' told his wife while looking around the red sand of Mars through a window in their living room. "I just have this funny feeling that something bad is going to happen."_

 _"_ _Dad! We're home," said two small Martian boys as they entered their home._

 _"_ _Hello, children," said Jonn' as he gave them hugs. "So how was school?"_

 _"_ _Nothing much," said one of the Martian boys. "Just plain old school stuff."_

 _"_ _Well dinner's ready so why don't we go have some dinner," M'yri'ah told them._

 _"_ _Yeah," said the two boys. "Let's eat." No sooner had the finished saying that the boys raced into the dinning room followed shortly by their parents. Once they reached the dinning room all of them sat at their seats at the circular table. Jonn' sat to the left of his wife while to his right was his older son and next to his older son was the younger of the two. And then they began to eat their food, which were small dark green beans with lime green spots and the plants were opened up like baked potatoes and had a dressing that looked like Greek salad dressing._

 _"_ _So what did you learn at school today?" M'yri'ah asked her boys._

 _"_ _Well, I learned one thing today," said the Martian boy who hadn't spoken earlier and was the older of the two boys._

 _"_ _And what was it?" Jonn' asked him._

 _"_ _I learned that my brother has a girlfriend," the older brother said in a tone that is used to annoy siblings._

 _"_ _I do not have a girlfriend!" exclaimed the younger brother angrily._

 _"_ _Now, boys," M'yri'ah butted in. "Don't start a war at the table and Jonn' get that crazy smile off your face, you understand."_

 _"_ _Yes, mom," said the two boys grumpily._

 _"_ _Jonn'?" M'yri'ah asked him._

 _"_ _Yes, M'yri'ah," Jonn' said. And the rest of dinner was sent in silence. Soon all the plates were empty._

 _"_ _Thanks for dinner Mom," the two boys told their mother._

 _"_ _Yes, thank you for dinner; it was enjoyed," Jonn' told his wife._

 _"_ _You're welcome," M'yri'ah told them. "Now boys go up to your rooms and play. Me and Jonn' will tuck you in shortly."_

 _"_ _Ok, Mom," the boys said before racing out the door and into their rooms which were just down the hall. Then there was a big bang and a loud crash._

 _"_ _What was that!?" M'yri'ah exclaimed. Then M'yri'ah and Jonn' raced out to the terrace and saw a big rocky meteor that had landed in the middle of the city. And out of it came two three legged things with white rock like things for heads. They started to blast with their red laser all of the building and they had already killed several Martians._

 _"_ _Mom! Dad! What's going on!?" the two boys exclaimed. Then the laser hit their house and the terrace became unbalanced they tried to get off of it and into the house but only Jonn' got off the terrace before it fell with his wife and children on it._

 _"_ _Jonn'!" his wife yelled._

 _"_ _Daddy!" his children screamed._

 _"_ _No!" Jonn' screamed as he tried to reach his wife's hand but to no avail. The terrace hit the ground with a loud CRASH and the terrace was smashed to smithereens and M'yri'ah, as well as his kids, were buried within the rubble. Jonn' fell to his knees and shed a tear for he knew that his family was dead._

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Woah," exclaimed Flash after seeing the rubble and everyone in the cage, except Jonn', was shocked and frightened. Jonn' was still on his knees and was looking down at the ground while everyone else, including Aresia, had a shocked look on their face and Superman, who was still at Jonn's side, tried to look at him in the eyes but to no avail. Jonn' didn't want the others to see his eyes for those eyes now shed two tears, one from each eye, and as they fell on the cage floor, making that area damp.

 ** _Back in the memories, a few years later, memory time_**

 _"_ _Jonn' I know this is a crazy idea but it's all we've got," a 5'7"adult male Martian told him._

 _"_ _I know Martin," Jonn' replied. "But two invade the enemy strong hold and put the paralyzing gas in it. That's too dangerous even with the gas masks."_

 _"_ _But we have to try," Martian begged him. "If this works we could save ourselves and have freedom once again."_

 _"_ _All right Martian. We'll try it," Jonn' told him defeatedly._

 _"_ _Don't worry Jonn'. This will work," Martian told him. "And I'll be with you to the very end. Just like when we were in school. Ok?"_

 _"_ _Ok," Jonn' replied._

 ** _A few hours later_**

 _"_ _Martin!" Jonn' screamed. "Your plan worked. Where are you?!" Jonn' yelled at the top of his lungs to try to get his friend's attention. Then he saw the battleground and saw that the remaining Martians, including Martin, were lying on the ground dead. Jonn' had a shocked look on his face when he came to that realization. "No," he whispered. A tear fell from his eye as he finally realized he was only living Martian left in the world._

 ** _Years later_**

 _Jonn' had a surprised look as he beheld the door which had held the invaders in suspended animation. It was wide open meaning someone had opened it. But he didn't open it and there was no else left on Mars who could have opened it. Then he went on Mars' surface and saw a spaceship heading toward a green and blue planet._

 _"_ _They must have opened it," Jonn' told himself. "They do not know what they have unleashed. I need to warn them of it. For they do not know what they are dealing with."_

 ** _On Earth_**

 _"_ _Look!" said a tan skinned military man dressed in green with a helmet to match. "It's some sort of alien," told his fellow soldiers as Jonn' approached them._

 _"_ _I'm not here to harm you or hurt," Jonn' began. "I'm here to…" He never got to finish. For the leader of the men had shot him with an electricity taser causing him to fall to the ground._

 _"_ _Sorry," said the leading military man coldly. "But we don't trust aliens. Not after the instant with Superman at least." Jonn' was about to fall unconscious. The last thing he heard was,_

 _"_ _Men! Get him inside to the scientists. We'll see what they want to do with him."_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"You told us what happened but I guess I really didn't understand until I saw it and experienced it for myself," Flash told himself.

"All right let's move to the 'Men Hating Girl'," Hades told Mnemosyne. Then Jonn' shackles stopped glowing and Aresia's began to glow and she screamed out in pain.

"Aresia!" Diana screamed.

"Stay away from me!" Aresia screamed back. Finally the shackles stopped burning as did her screaming and the memory screen started once more.

 _ **Aresia**_

 _"_ _Aresia, have you finished your homework?" said a blonde hair woman with pale skin and bright blue eyes._

 _"_ _Almost, mother," replied an eight year old Aresia._

 _"_ _Well hurry up and finish it so that we can play,"Aresia's mother told her._

 _"_ _Honey, I'm home," a man with chocolate hair, plain skin, and bright brown eyes._

 _"_ _Hello, dear," said Aresia's mother before she kissed him._

 _"_ _Hi, dad," Aresia told the man._

 _"_ _Hi, baby girl," her father told her. "Are you done with your homework?"_

 _"_ _Now I am," Aresia told him._

 _"_ _Good. Now we can play," her mother said. "Now, what should we play?"_

 _"_ _Tag, you're it," Aresia said as she touched her mother's arm and began to run away._

 _"_ _You're it," Aresia's mother told her husband as she tagged him and ran up behind Aresia._

 _"_ _O, it's on now," Aresia's father told the girls. And they raced outside with her father bring up the rear. They raced all around the small house that looked more like a hut on the outside._

 _"_ _You're it," her father said as he tagged Artesia. Then Artesia ran and ran and tried to tag her father and then gave up but she was able to tag her mother._

 _"_ _Tag, you're it," Aresia said as she tagged her mother. They all played tag till they were tried of running and decided to go inside and eat dinner._

 **In the cage and in real life**

"I don't get it?" Flash said. "How did you go from a sweet little girl to an 'I hate men so much I want to kill them' woman?" _  
_"You'll just have to wait and see. Won't you?" Aresia told him.

 **Back in her memories**

 _"_ _Daddy I don't want you to go," said a now nine year old Aresia._

 _"_ _I don't want to go either sweetheart. But I have to," her father told her. Then he dropped to a knee and put his hands on her shoulders. "Now stay here with your mother and be safe. I'll be home before you know it." Then he kissed his daughter and stood up and kissed his wife and headed out to the jeep full of men now preparing for war._

 ** _A few months later_**

 _"_ _MOM!" Aresia shouted. "There are men invading the town!" And it was true. Men were invading the town and invading peoples' houses and killing whoever was inside._

 _"_ _Aresia," her mother whispered. "We need to leave." So they left their house and they were just far enough to see, but be in, the destruction of town and know that everyone from that town, except of them, were dead. And there was fear and silence._

 _"_ _Mom..."_

 _"_ _No time to dwell on this. We need to move fast before they find us." They walked for miles until they came to the neighboring town. "Let's see if we can find a ship to take us out of the country." They made their way to the town's harbor and managed to buy two tickets for a ship to take them out of country._

 _The large metal ship was in the middle of the ocean when pirates attacked the ship with guns and cannonballs._

 _"_ _Mommy," Aresia whispered in fear._

 _"_ _Sshh," her mother replied calmly. "It's ok. We won't die ok." Then the pirates went right up the ship and stole their few possessions then once the pirates left the ship and went onto their own they shoot a big hole in the ship Aresia and her mother were on. There was screaming and everyone on the ship was panicking._

 _"_ _MOMMY!" Aresia shouted before the ship fell into the ocean and she fell unconscious. Then a few moments later she woke up and saw the ship's wreckage. "Mom," she whispered before she fell unconscious once more._

 **In the cage and in real life**

"Woah," Flash said startled. "I never knew…"

"Now do you understand," Aresia said through tears. "Men needed to pay for what they did to me! They took my family and my childhood away from me!"

"I know you lost a lot, Aresia," Diana told her. "But that didn't give you the right to be the judge. The men who ruined your life are either dying, or dead. And the ones that have died are paying for what they did in the Field of Punishment. So why punish another generation that has done you no harm?"

"Because all men are the same!" Aresia exclaimed. "Men haven't changed since I've been a child! And because no man has ever experienced my pain and never will!" Batman was clenching his fists and was getting ready to loss his temper but the screen changed before he could scream what he was **thinking** , 'I HAVE EXPIRENCED YOUR PAIN; I GET IT AND WOULD YOU PLEASE SHUT UP'.

 ** _Back into the memories_**

 _Aresia awoke in a bedroom that was decorated with Greek art and the wall was a beautiful golden yellow. She then sat up and saw a woman to her right; the woman had a blonde hair in a pony tail, blue eyes and a white riding dress._

 _"_ _Where am I?" Aresia asked._

 _"_ _You are on Themiscyria," the woman told her. "An island hidden from Man's World and eyes of men. You are safe here and no one will harm you. I found on the shore of my island and took you here so that you could be nurse back to health."_

 _"_ _Who are you?" Aresia asked._

 _"_ _My name is Hippolyta," the woman told her. "I am Queen of the Amazons, we are women of peace but we do know the ways of war. I will see you tonight at dinner where you will meet all the rest of the Amazons and get situated." Hippolyta then walked out of the room and shut the door behind her. Aresia then looked out her window and saw the ocean shining in the sun and she saw the rest of the island, beautiful architecture and the stadium ring where the Amazons were training and Aresia knew that she at a place of rest. She then looked around her room and took out of her pocket a very wet photo of her and her mother; it had been taken while her father was away. She looked at it._

 _"_ _Don't worry mother I will avenge you," Aresia said to the photo. "Men will pay for what they did to you and to me. I promise on my life that I will destroy all men or will die trying."_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"And so after this you're still going to try to kill men?" Flash asked.

"Yes," Aresia said. "Now more than ever. Since no man really HAS experienced my pain." Batman was getting ready to loss his temper. He was glad that everyone's attention was on Aresia instead of him. For if they had seen his fists clenching they would have gotten suspicious and Superman would have heard his teeth grinning.

"Now," Hades said in his mysterious tone. "Let's go into the last Leaguer's memories."

Then Aresia's shackles stopped glowing but Batman's shackles began to glow and he screamed out in pain.

"Bats!" Flash screamed.

"Batman!" Shayera, Jonn' and John screamed.

"Bruce!" Diana and Clark screamed as they raced to his side. Then the pain ceased, as did the screaming, but the shackles were still glowing and then the memory screen began to change.

"Enjoy," Hades told them. And the journey into Batman's mind began.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I used movie scenes and TV Show scenes for this one. I do not own the right to those scenes. All right belong to DC people.**

Chapter 6: Batman

 **** ** _Batman_**

 _"_ _Rachel, come on let me see it," said a young eight year old Bruce Wayne he was wearing a plaid white and blue shirt with blue jeans. He was chasing his friend, Rachel Dawes, through the greenhouse in his front yard. She had just found an arrowhead and she wasn't letting him see it. He finally found her hiding under a table in the green house._

 _"_ _Rachel, please let me see it," Bruce begged her._

 _"_ _Finders keepers and I'm the one who found it," Rachel said in an obnoxious voice. She had brown two braids, light brown skin, brown eyes, and was wearing a pink sweater with blue jeans._

 _"_ _And you found it in MY garden," Bruce told her. She then opened up her hand and showed him the arrowhead a second later he took._

 _"_ _Finders keepers losers sweepers," he told her as he ran away with it. He then hid behind a couple of flower beds and he was also unknowingly standing on some old wooden boards which covered the hole into a cave._

 _"_ _Bruce?" Rachel said in a whisper almost._

 _"_ _Ahh," he said as he fell down into the hole for the boards broke under his weight. "Uph," he said once he hit the ground and he was about ten feet from the floor on the green house._

 _"_ _Bruce?" Rachel asked into the hole. He began to move and Rachel then left the rim of the hole. And headed out of the greenhouse and up toward the house, which was up a steep hill with a staircase._

 _"_ _Mom! Mr. Alfred!" she screamed as she tried to get their attention._

 _Bruce then looked to his left and saw a hole and he heard screeching. Then a swarm of bats came out of it and some of them 'attacked' him, meaning they got in his personal space and were close enough for him to swat them. He screamed like crazy and he was terrified of them and he was having a panic attack. Finally after a couple of minutes the bats left and a man in a black dress suit with brown hair and brown eyes came down a rope and Bruce recognized him._

 _"_ _Dad?" Bruce asked the man._

 _"_ _Bruce, it's ok, you're going to be ok," his dad told him as he took Bruce's hand and got him out of the hole._

 ** _A few minutes later in Bruce's bedroom_**

 _"_ _Was it the bats again?" his father asked him. Bruce, who was in bed, nodded his head up and down. His father was on the left side of the bed looking at his son._

 _"_ _Do you know why they attacked you?" his dad asked him. But he didn't wait for Bruce to answer instead he answered himself. "They attacked you because they were afraid of you."_

 _"_ _Afraid of me?" Bruce asked._

 _"_ _Every living creature feels fear," his dad told him._

 _"_ _Even the scary ones?" Bruce asked him._

 _"_ _Especially the scary ones, Bruce," his dad told him._

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Wait a minute," Flash interrupted. He then looked at Batman, who was still on the ground. "You're scared of bats."

"WAS scared of bats," Bruce corrected him. "I got over it eventually."

"I don't get it," Green Lantern said. "How did you go from sweet kid to creep adult?"

"Things changed," Batman told Lantern.

"HOW did things change?" Diana asked him.

"Yeah," Flash interjected. "Things always change from childhood to adulthood. In what way did things change?"

"You'll have to watch the screen to find out," Batman told them with his head facing the ground.

 ** _Back to the memories same age, same day just at night after leaving a theater_**

 _"_ _Did you like the movie, Bruce?" his father asked him._

 _"_ _Yeah, it was great!" Bruce exclaimed. "When it comes out can we buy it?"_

 _"_ _Of course, Bruce," his mother told him. They were all dressed nice. Bruce was in a black suit as was his father and his mother was wearing a long, narrow and purple dress, a tan fur coat and her pearl necklace. She then turned to her husband. "Where are you taking us?"_

 _"_ _We can cut through this alley, here," Thomas Wayne told her leading them in that direction._

 _"_ _But Bruce is tired and exhausted," Martha Wayne told him. "Couldn't we just wait for Alfred here?"_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Who's Alfred?" Diana asked.

"At that point in time he was the family butler," Batman told her with his head down.

"What is he now?" Flash asked.

"Guess after you finish seeing this," He told Flash.

 ** _Back into the memories_**

 _"_ _Come on, we're nearly there," Thomas told them. They began to walk down the alley, an alley that Bruce would later know as Crime Alley. When they were about half way across the alley a man dressed in a fine suit of black came up to them. That man had a gun hidden in his right hand was hidden by the shadows and whose name Bruce would later learn was Joe Chill. He then pointed the gun at Thomas._

 _"_ _Wallets, money, now, fast," the mugger told the Waynes. His voice was filled with desperation and fear. The whole family stopped. Martha and Bruce were frozen in fear, especially Bruce._

 _"_ _It's fine, take it easy," Thomas told the mugger calmly. He then reached into his pocket and dropped his wallet on the ground._

 _"_ _It's fine," he told the mugger. The mugger then went down and picked up the wallet. "Now, just take it and go."_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Why didn't your father stand up to the mugger, instead of being a coward?!" Aresia asked Batman.

"I don't know," he told her.

"I don't get it," Hippolyta exclaimed. "Why are we being shown this? And why does it matter?"

"You'll find out soon enough," he told her.

 ** _In memories_**

 _The mugger then lowered the gun to his side and Thomas slowly began to put his hands down. The mugger pulled up his arm again and pulled the trigger. The mugger shot his father right in the chest. As Thomas fell the other two screamed._

 _"_ _Daddy!" Bruce screamed._

 _"_ _Tom! Thomas!" Martha screamed. Once Thomas was on the ground the mugger moved over to Martha and pointed his gun at her heart. Some of the pearl from her necklace were on the barrel of the gun._

 _"_ _Stay away from me!" Martha screamed with her hands in the air. She then turned to her son. "Run Bru…!" That last word was cut off by the gun that had just shot her in the heart. As she fell Bruce screamed._

 _"_ _Mommy!" She then fell onto the ground._

 _"_ _Tell me something," the mugger told him. Bruce turned toward the man. "Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?" The mugger then turned and ran leaving Bruce and his parents in the alley. He then fell to his knees where he was sitting in between his two blood covered parents._

 _"_ _Bruce," his father said weakly. He then turned to his father, who was on his right. "It's okay. Don't be afraid." He then closed his eyes and left this world and his wife did the same. Bruce then turned to his mom._

 _"_ _Mom, Mom," he said desperately as he shook her bloody body. But she made no response. He then turned to his father. "Dad, Dad." He shook him as well but to no avail. He then saw the sticky blood that was on his hands. It was then he realized that they were dead, and he screamed so loud that everyone within a mile radius could hear it._

 **In real life and in the cage**

Everyone was horrified, minus Batman; it was his head after all. His head was down and a tear fell down onto the cage floor.

"All this time," Green Lantern said in shock.

"That's why you're so distant and cold appearing," Flash said out loud.

"That's part of it," Bruce told them. "That was the first and main reason. But that wasn't that only one."

"So after that what happened?" Shayera asked.

"I went to their funeral and cried the whole time," he told them. "Afterwards I made a promise to them."

"What promise?" Flash asked curiously.

"A secret one," Batman responded.

"O, come on!" Flash exclaimed.

"You were wrong, Aresia," Batman said.

"What?"

"You were wrong about no man understanding your pain." He turned his head to face her. "I know it more than you think."

 ** _Later that night_**

 _The police finally arrived at Crime Ally. When they arrived at the scene they saw Martha and Thomas Wayne dead and Bruce trying to fix his mother's broken pearl necklace. He was still in between them and still crying. Only a few men were there, it was only one squad. The squad was James Gordon's, who was a Detective at the time, and Jim was heartbroken at the sight of Bruce. Jim walked over to him and bent down at a knee._

 _"_ _Hey," Jim started. Bruce looked up at him for a glance. "I need to ask you some questions. Can I get you anything? Are you alright?" There was a pause and Bruce wasn't answering. "Look, I know you don't feel like answering me but it's the only way to catch who did this. I know you're hurting when I was a little older than you. (pause) I lost my father." Bruce looked up. "We were driving home and we had an accident. I was in the back seat and I survived. But my father didn't. I know what you are going through and I learned that no matter what tragic thing happens there will always be someone to help you. That I promise you is true." Bruce then leapt into his arms and cried his heart out._

 _"_ _Why did he do it officer?" Bruce sobbed. "Why?"_

 _"_ _I don't know. It's this city," Gordon told him. "O, and by the way call me Jim." Bruce then let go and Gordon stood for in their sight was Alfred. Bruce ran into his butler's arms. Alfred gave a nod of appreciation and Gordon gave one in reply. They walked away but before they were out of earshot Bruce heard something._

 _"_ _Will he be alright?" asked one of the officers._

 _"_ _He'll be fine," said another. "A kid like that with all that money? He'll be just fine." Bruce tightened his fist at the sound of that._

 _"_ _Shut Up!" Gordon snapped at them. "He's eight years old and all alone money won't fix that."_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Gordon was right," Bruce said. "Money can't fix the hole that their deaths left."

"So," Flash began. "All that talk about money bring someone happiness and keep someone happy. Is all…"

"Nothing but a horrible and terrible lie," Bruce finished. "Money might help you achieve happiness, if you try hard enough, but it can't fix holes like death and give you the happiness and joy you had before it happened."

 ** _Several years_**

 _"_ _My parents deserve justice," young adult Bruce told Rachel in her car. He was the passenger and both were driving through Gotham to get back to Wayne Manor. Rachel was now a young adult as well and driving the car. They had just been talking about a man who did what Joe Chill did to another family, except this time a young boy and girl were left alone in the world. That mugger murderer caught got and went to jail and was involved in Falcone's drug empire as right hand man. He was going to tell the police what he knew after spending a few years in jail but a woman named Candace, she had raven hair, blood red lips and icy cold blue eyes, had shot him before he got to tell the judge what he knew. That then brought up the conversation about what if it was Joe Chill that was killed since he too was involved in Falcone's drug empire._

 _"_ _You're not talking about justice, Bruce, you're talking about revenge," Rachel told him. He then turned to face her._

 _"_ _Sometimes they're the same."_

 _"_ _No, they're never the same. Justice is about harmony; revenge is about making yourself feel better. Which is why we have a judicial branch and system."_

 _"_ _Your 'system' is broken." Rachel slammed on the brakes and made a hard turn to the left and turned into a run down neighbor. It was dark, you were seeing by dim street light, it was dirt, litter was everywhere, and there were people with messy hair, living in cardboard boxes, old run down clothes and beggars._

 _"_ _You care about justice, look beyond your own pain, Bruce," Rachel began. "This city is ROOTING. People talk about the depression as if it's history and it's not. Falcone is praying on the desperate and the needy, creating new mugger murderers everyday. Look, Falcone may not have killed your parents, Bruce, but he's destroying everything they stood for." She then stopped in front of a bar with two men in black suit standing guard. The bar was old, chipping and dark from the outside._

 _"_ _We all know where to find him," Rachel told Bruce. "But as long as he keeps the bad people rich and the good people scare no one will touch him. Good people, like your parents, who DARE to stand up against injustice? They're gone. What chance does Gotham have when the good people do nothing?!"_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"It's that messed up?" Flash exclaimed. He then turned to Batman. "No wonder you're so grim." Batman gave him his legendary glare at level 4 instead of level 10, like it usually was. He turned his head away from Flash and hid his face, for he didn't want them to see the tears forming in his eyes for his parents and for all soon to come.

 ** _Several years later_**

 _The Hailey's Circus. He didn't know why he was attending a circus when he could be working. It was probably because Alfred wanted him to have some real fun and not pretend to have fun, like what he usually does. He might as well enjoy himself since he wouldn't need to bring one of his 'dates' so it would be a night free of spoiled, rich and young women. Mr. Hailey then came out into the center ring._

 _"_ _Hello, Gotham City and welcome to the Hailey's Circus!" Mr. Hailey announced. "Now first up are the Fearless Flying Graysons. Doing their performance without the safety of a net." The spotlight moved to a young man, woman, and nine year old boy dressed in red. They were on the trapeze waiting platforms and everyone clapped. They began their act the adult man, that Bruce assumed was the boy's father and the woman his mother, and the boy went on then the boy then went onto the platform and let his mother go. His parents were on for a few minutes but then the rope, that both the man and woman were on, snapped and they fell to their deaths. The audience screamed and Bruce was horrified for he knew that boy was now an orphan._

 **In real life and in the cage**

All the leaguers and even Hippolyta were horrified. Diana and Shayera had their hands on their mouths.

"Poor boy," Diana said. Aresia was getting ready to say that he got what he deserved for being male but the scene changed before she could say a word.

 ** _An hour or two later_**

 _He saw the boy in tears and sobbing. He also heard Commissioner Gordon saying something about a man named Tony Zucco, who they suspected as being the one who cut the ropes. Bruce walked up to Gordon._

 _"_ _Mr. Wayne?" Gordon was surprised that he was still there._

 _"_ _I was in the audience. Couldn't leave after this," Bruce told him. He then turned and looked at the boy. "Does he have anyone?"_

 _"_ _No," Gordon said. "No family besides them. Some of the circus folks want to take him in but we're afraid that Zucco might target him again. He's a key witness and putting him with the circus folks makes him an easier target to find."_

 _"_ _I might be able to help," Bruce said._

 ** _The next night_**

 _Dick Grayson, the circus boy, had moved into Wayne Manor that morning and had since only come down for meals. Bruce had been trying to find Zucco and he nearly caught him, the only reason he hadn't is because Zucco sent a decoy. He was really frustrated at himself. He wanted to catch this man and bring him to justice for the boy's sake. He was heading toward the computer and trying to figure out where Zucco had gone._

 _"_ _Master Bruce?" Alfred said as he walked up behind him._

 _"_ _What is it Alfred?" Bruce asked him._

 _"_ _You've been spending so much time trying to find Zucco that you haven't spent much time with Master Dick," Alfred told him. "The only time he's seen you are at dinner and this morning."_

 _"_ _But I'm doing this for him," Bruce said._

 _"_ _I'm sure revenge would be sweet," Alfred told his surrogate son. "But right now he needs a friend." He paused then added. "Isn't that what you need?" Bruce after thinking about he knew Alfred was right about Dick and about himself. The whole reason he had taken Dick in was to help him during his difficult in life a time that Bruce had been through himself. So he took off his uniform and put on some casual clothes and went up to Dick's bedroom. Bruce opened the door._

 _"_ _Dick?" Bruce asked._

 _"_ _Here," Dick replied. Bruce walked over to Dick, who was sitting near the window._

 _"_ _Hey, I know you're hurting," Bruce told him. Dick bursted out before Bruce could say other word._

 _"_ _I should have warned them," Dick exclaimed. "I saw him come out of the tent; I knew he didn't belong there." Bruce stood up and look at a picture over the mantle, it was of his parents._

 _"_ _Yeah," Bruce said. "You're thinking if I had done something differently. If only I could've warned them. But there's nothing you could have done. There's nothing either of us could have done." Dick stood up and looked at the picture over the mantle._

 _"_ _Your parents?" Dick asked. "Does the hurt EVER go away?" Bruce went on a knee and look at the boy._

 _"_ _I wish I could say yes," Bruce said. "But it will get better for you at least that I promise." Dick then plunged into Bruce's arms and was received with a hug._

 **In real life and in the cage**

Everyone was shocked. They had never seen this side of Batman before. Seeing Batman as an actual person, and some creepy guy who scare the living daylight out of criminals, was real rare. All of them even wondered if that side of him would be seen more and more as they journeyed deeper into his mind.

 ** _Several years later_**

 _"_ _Man, if I had known it would take these guys this long to show up I would have brought my homework," Robin exclaimed. It had a long stakeout and Dick was getting agitated and bored. They were on a rooftop near a building that was, according to their tip, going to be blown up._

 _"_ _You still think that they're going to show?" Robin asked._

 _"_ _Uh," Batman assured him while looking through his binoculars._

 _"_ _It's been an hour," Robin exclaimed._

 _"_ _Uh," Batman repeated._

 _"_ _Are you positive we're in the right place?" Robin asked him._

 _"_ _Uh," Batman repeated._

 _"_ _Luck me that you're such a good conversationalist," Robin said sarcastically._

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Who's the boy in the red and green suit?" John asked.

"That's Dick or Robin, as he called himself in costume," Batman told him.

"In costume?" Shayera asked. "You mean you LET him help you fight crime!?"

"No!" Batman raised his voice and then lowered it. "No. I would never let him be put into danger. It was his idea and it took him nearly dying in a fight to convince me to train him."

"But why call himself Robin?" Aresia asked. "Does he like birds?"

"It was a nickname his mom gave him," Bruce explained. "She called him her little robin."

 ** _Back into the memories_**

 _The men, who were threatening to blow up the construction sight, finally made it. They had an explosive of TNT and were getting ready to set it off._

 _"_ _They're here," Batman told Robin._

 _"_ _Alright!" Robin exclaimed._

 _"_ _These are dangerous men, Robin," Batman told him calmly. "Let's take it by the numbers."_

 _"_ _Alright, time to kit some butt!" Robin exclaimed. He then took out his grappling hook and began to swing down._

 _"_ _I'm glad we had that chat," Batman said full of sarcasm. He then took out his grappling hook and began to swing down._

 _"_ _We're going to need a charge," one of the men handling the explosive said._

 _"_ _How about Wahoo!" Robin exclaimed as he swung down and it one of the five men._

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Haaa! Haaa!" There was laughing coming from the Scarlet Speedster for the first time since they had been down there. "You have the funniest kid!"

"Yeah," Bruce said quietly. "He was great."

 ** _A few months later_**

 _Commissioner Gordon had been thrown in jail for frame work. Batman knew that had to be the case there is no way Gordon would be helping Thorne. He was desperate to find a clue or something that would clear his name but so far he had gotten nothing. He was also worried about Gordon's high school daughter, Barbara, how would she react to this and what would happen to her if her father's name wasn't cleared? Currently though he was fighting a few of Thorne's men with Robin; he was planning on interrogating one of them to try to get some information that would be helpful. He and Robin just finished taking care of them and interrogated one of them only to get some information about a man named Gill._

 _"_ _Have any idea who is this Gill is that he spoke about?" Robin asked him._

 _"_ _None," Bruce told him._

 _"_ _Then who is he?" Robin asked Bruce. Before Bruce could answer another voice spoke from the shadows above._

 _"_ _I can tell you that," a female voice said. She then came down into their sight and she was had red hair and was wearing a black and grey suit with a pointy eared cowl that let her hair drop, a black cape, yellow belt and black bat symbol on her chest._

 _"_ _Who are you?" Robin asked._

 _"_ _I'm Batgirl," she said. "And I can tell you who Gill is. Gill is a man, whose father had a relationship with the Commissioner, and he has a relationship with Barbara Gordon. So he has access to a lot of the Gordon's info."_

 _"_ _How do you know all this stuff?" Robin asked._

 _"_ _I'm friends with her," Batgirl told him._

 _"_ _Or you are her, Miss Gordon," Batman said coldly. "Why are you here this is dangerous?"_

 _"_ _Ok you got me, her," Batgirl told him. "If this is SO dangerous then why is Robin doing this? We're the same age!"_

 _"_ _Because I'm actually responsible for Robin," Batman told her. "Your father is responsible for you and I'm not. And…"_

 _"_ _Don't finish that!" Barbara exclaimed. "Look, this isn't my father's chose or your choice it's mine. So get over!" She then turned away and began to proudly walk away. "And I'm doing this with or without your help."_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Ooo," Flash exclaimed. "You got sassed."

"So what happened to her?" Hippolyta asked.

"It was just like Dick," Batman told her. "I didn't want to train her and she nearly died from a rooky mistake because of it. Finally, I decided to train her and she still is Batgirl."

 ** _A few years and a few months later_**

 _Dick had left and become the leader of the Teen Titans. He was now wearing a new costume as well, he was now Nightwing. Dick had left because he wanted his own independence and it was time. Bruce, even though it was hard, let him go and even said good-bye. But they still had what they had when he was Robin it was just different. Dick had given the Robin costume to him as a gift and he told Bruce to give it only to the right person. Now it was only Batman and Batgirl patrolling Gotham._

 _Bruce was just finishing is patrol routes and was heading to the Batmobile when he saw a strange sight. He saw a small boy about eight or nine, he had black greasy hair, ocean blue eyes and was wearing a worn down sweater. The boy was trying, with a crowbar, to get a tire off the Batmobile, but with no success. The boy then saw Bruce and had a face with fear smeared across it and he dropped the crowbar. Bruce just gave a semi smile and walked toward the boy and motioned for him to go into the car. The boy jumped into the passenger seat after feeling the warmth of the heater. Bruce went into the driver seat and closed the hatch above them. Bruce turned to the boy._

 _"_ _Who are you and where do you live?" Bruce asked him a calmly voice. His tone was full of compassion, curiosity, and pity._

 _"_ _My name is Jason Todd," the boy told him. "And I live on the streets. My dad died due to a mug incident. My mom was an alcoholic and she died due to an overdose. I don't have anywhere else to go or a place to call home."_

 _"_ _Well, if you want you could come with me?" Bruce told Jason. "You don't have anywhere else to go and it won't hurt."_

 _"_ _It will once I'm thrown out," Jason said. He was looking out the window and didn't even look Batman in the eye._

 _"_ _No," Bruce said. "You won't be thrown back onto the streets again. Not while I'm still breathing." Bruce paused and Jason turned to look him in the eyes. "So what do think? Do you want to go home with me or do you want to go back to the streets; it's your choice." Jason was speechless and surprised no one else had ever volunteered to care for him like that. It was then Jason realized what the obvious choice was and was ready to make it._

 _"_ _I guess I could go with you to your place," Jason said._

 _"_ _Good," Bruce replied. He then went to his right ear to use his COM link. "Penny-One, we're going to have some company."_

 _"_ _O, good," Alfred said into his ear. "It will be nice to have another person in the house." Batman then started the car home, to the Batcave with a more cheerful heart._

 **In real life and in the cage**

"What happened to the boy?" Diana asked.

"I took him," Batman told her. They all looked at him. "I couldn't just leave on or throw him back onto the streets could I?"

"You could have," Aresia told him. "And it would prove how inhuman you are."

 ** _Several months later_**

 _"_ _Jason!" Batman shouted as he walked over to him. "You shattered his collarbone!"_

 _"_ _Well, he was a mugger and scum I didn't think I need to take him down lightly!" Jason said in the red and green suit that made him Robin._

 _"_ _It doesn't matter whether he is scum or not we don't kill or make lethal blows that could kill them PERIOD, understand?" Batman exclaimed._

 _"_ _Ok," Jason said. He then began to walk toward the house. "I still think he deserved it."_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Is that Jason?" Shayera asked.

"Yep," Batman told her. "The thing is he wanted to be Robin once he heard that I still had the suit. I didn't want him to be but he was being extremely stubborn and didn't even complain about chores or homework. Finally, I let him become Robin and agreed to train him."

"You gave into his plead easier than the other two, why?" Superman asked.

"Because I didn't want to repeat the mistake I made with Barbara and Dick so I gave in easier so that he didn't risk death or die," Batman explained. "And the attitude he always had even before he was Robin."

 ** _Back into the memories a few weeks later_**

 _Jason was in a warehouse with the Joker doing who knows what. Bruce was worried to say the lest and was racing to save him as fast his motorcycle could carry him. He was almost there and he was hoping that Jason was still alive and that Joker was gone or he would beat him to a bloody pulp. But first he had to get to Jason and save him from whatever Joker was doing to him._

 _The warehouse was in his sight and he had just jumped off the Batcycle and was running on white snow that crunched under his feet. He was yards away but he was too late and the warehouse blew up in front of him. He desperately ran toward the rubble trying to find Jason and some sign that he was alive, even though he knew it was extremely unlikely. He then found in some of the rubble a body._

 _"_ _No!" Bruce whispered. The body was of Jason. He picked it up and placed it in his arms. "Jason!" He whispered. He shed a tear under the cowl for Jason was died._

 **In real life and in the cage**

Everyone was upset and was deeply affected by Jason's death even though none of them really knew Jason.

"I'm sorry," Diana said. "Who did…"

"The Joker," Batman finished. "The Joker is the one who ended Jason's life and that's not even the worst part. The worst part is that Joker was trying to hurt me and was using Jason to do so. He was using Jason to get to me which makes his death my fault."

"It wasn't your fault," Diana told him. "You did everything you could to save him. It wasn't your fault the one who is to blame is Joker."

 ** _A few years later_**

 _Bruce had heard rumors about Two-Face making a big move tonight. But little did he know that he would not be leaving without another child in his life. He was heading down to the docks where Two-Face was. With Two-Face were four henchmen and all were welding guns. But to Batman surprise he saw a nine or ten year old boy with jet black, sapphire eyes and was wearing a semi wet sweater, it was wet from rain and sweat. The boy reminded Bruce of Dick and Jason but those thoughts were quickly displaced out of his mind. Batman then leapt into action and took out one of the goons when he swung down from his grappling hook. He then took out two more of the goons and while Batman was dealing with those two goons Two-Face got a good grip on the boy and was pointing the gun at his head._

 _"_ _Don't move Bats," Two-Face growled. Batman turned to face him. "Or the boy gets it." Batman stopped and that gave goon number four a chance to hit him on the head with his gun giving him a concussion. Two-Face then put the boy down and while he was distracted Batman tucked the boy in under his arm and he rolled them off the deck and into the ocean below. Two-Face order his men to look for them but them never found them. Batman had the Batboat near the deck and they climbed into the boat and headed toward the cave._

 ** _A few minutes later_**

 _Bruce was on the medical table and Alfred attending to him. The boy was looking around the cave and some how he managed to sneak away from Alfred's view and get upstairs toward Wayne Manor and found out who Batman was. Batgirl then dragged him downstairs to the cave. Once they got down Bruce was sitting up on the medical table with Alfred right beside him._

 _"_ _Who are you?" Batman asked. "And why is Two-Face after you?"_

 _"_ _My name is Tim Drake," the boy told him. "And I don't why Two-Face is after me. What I do know that might be related to this is that my father use to work for old Punk-Face."_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Haa! Haaa!" Flash was laughing his head off. "Puck-Face!? You get the funniest kids."

 ** _Back into the memories_**

 _Alfred had showed Tim to a spare bedroom and was currently sleeping, or at lest he was suppose to. While down in the cave Batman and Batgirl had finally identified Tim's father as Jake Drake. Jake had been responsible for several robberies and had been working for Two-Face. Also that there had been a body found near the bay in Metropolis that had the same prints as Tim's father. While they had been discussing this Tim had come down in some new PJs that Alfred had given him, and was right behind them._

 _"_ _He's gone isn't he?" Tim said. They turned to look at him. "My old man. He's gone for go."_

 _"_ _We don't know that for…" Batgirl began._

 _"_ _Yes," Batman interrupted. He then got out of his chair and walked over to Tim._

 _"_ _He was never going to come back for me; he was too scared," Tim said while shedding a tear. Bruce went down on a knee and stooped down to his level and put his hands on Tim's shoulders._

 _"_ _Of what?" Bruce asked him. "What did he take from Two-Face and why did he hide it?"_

 _"_ _Hey, if I knew I'd tell you," Tim said. He began sniffing. "I still can't believe he's gone. Even though he never was around or seemed to care he was still my father." Tim began to sob and cry and Batman pulled him into a hug and he shed a tear for the boy._

 ** _Several years later_**

 _"_ _Alright, Robin you head to the mugging taking place near the Narrows," Batman said into his com._

 _"_ _Got it Batman," Robin said. He wore a black and red uniform unlike the previous two._

 _"_ _And be care…" Batman began._

 _"_ _Don't worry I'll be back before you know it," Robin said in com. "Later Dad."_

 **In real life and in the cage**

"Wait what about Two-Face?" John asked.

"He went back to Arkham due to Tim dawning the Robin costume without my permission," Batman told him.

"Did he call you Dad?" Hippolyta asked.

"Yes, he did," Batman told her. "Although I still haven't gotten use to it after all these years. And this incident that you are about to see happened last year when I went distant for a month."

 ** _A week later_**

 _Robin had been missing for a week and Batman had finally found him with the Joker and Harley Quinn. Batgirl also came with Batman but she remained in the shadows and to stay there until it was time. When he came into the theater he and Joker began to fight each other and the fight took them to the movie theater where they used to show films. While Batgirl and Harley fought each other and that fight took them outside. Once Batman was in one of the watching wings a slide show began._

 _"_ _O, I had a lot of funny hurting Robin," Joker began. "You would have been so proud to see him so strong." The slide show showed Tim being tortured and Bruce's face was filled with horror. "But then the serum took its full affect. And the boy told me all kinds of tales about you. Like the one about when I killed your girlfriend, at the beginning of my career, tortured your friends, Harvey and Ethan, out of sanity and turned them into Two-Face and Clayface. Also how much kill the second Robin hurt you, like how you were out of control and had to be on a leach more. Also how paralyzing Barbara Gordon from the waist down hurt you as well as torturing her father. And must bring up him being kidnapped and the kidnapper turning out to be the second Robin? O, it was so good but the best one was when he told me about your parents." Bruce's face was turned stiff. "It funny, really. That behind all the sternness and batarangs you're just a little boy in a play suit crying for mommy and daddy. It'd be funny if it wasn't so pathetic." Joker then paused. "O, what the heck I'll laugh anyway." And the Joker laughed that crazy and insane laugh heard o, so many times by the Dark Knight._

 _That laugh made Bruce loss it. He shot into the booth where Joker was and started beating the living daylight out of him. He was fighting of a rage that had been building up for years and years. Finally he threw him out of a window and Joker landed on the stage in another viewing place in the theater and he dragged him._

 _"_ _I will break you in two," Bruce said gritting his teeth. He raised his fist back to deliver a final blow._

 _"_ _Batsy," Joker said. "If you had the guts for that kind of fun you would have done it years ago." Joker then squirted some tear gas onto Bruce from his flower. It caused Bruce to let the Joker go and giving the Joker the chance to kick off the stage. Bruce landed on some chairs and blood began to pour out of his month and nose. The Joker went over to the left side of the stage, the audience's right, and drew back the curtain and revealed a small boy with a white face, green hair and purple suit and he was laughing like a hyena. Joker gave him a gun._

 _"_ _Go ahead, Jr.," Joker said. "Finish the bat." Joker Jr. raised the gun and aimed it at Bruce's heart._

 _"_ _Tim," Bruce groaned. Just then Batgirl, with Harley cold against the wall, came in and threw some knockout gas at Joker and Joker Jr. While the Joker fell unconscious; Jr. escaped the gas and was not knocked out and was still pointing the gun at Bruce. Batgirl came running in and running to Bruce._

 _"_ _Don't shout, Tim!" Barbara screamed. She then found Bruce and used her body as a shield to protect Bruce's. Joker Jr. froze. He remembered Bruce doing the same thing for him and he dropped the gun and began to cry._

 **In real life and in the cage**

Everyone was horrified at what Batman had to endure and what his adopted family had to endure. Now all the leaguers finally understood why Batman was so stern about them staying out of Gotham. It was too much madness and craziness.

"Is Tim…" Diana began.

"He has his sanity back," Batman told her. "I had a friend, a doctor, Leslie Tompkins, she was able to get Tim his sanity back. And later after a lot of debate he got his role as Robin back, mainly due to Batgirl's input." Everyone was silent now for now they had time to think about what they had just seen.

 **Answering a review I got from smhmrcn26. I will get to that in a sequel to the sequel I'm planning to write for this. So I will get there; I promise. And in that story there will be plenty of angry Hippolyta. And thank everyone who reviewed for your support; it's been very helpful.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Why?

Everyone in the cage's heads was down. No one was talking or smiling, not even Flash. They all finally had a chance to think over what they had just seen. All of them were shocked and surprised at just how wrong they had been about each other.

"One question Hades," Hippolyta turned to him. "Why bring Aresia and me down here? The leaguers, it makes sense why you'd do this to them, but why us? And who asked you to do this? There's no way this was your idea."

"You're right, Hippolyta," Hades told her. "It wasn't my idea. It was Hera's idea to do this to the league and to you and Aresia."

"Hera?" Hippolyta asked. "What was she hoping to gain from this?"

"She was hoping that you and Aresia would walk away from this realizing how wrong you are about men," Hades told her. "She also wanted the league to understand each other better so, what's the phrase, two birds, and one stone? Well anyway, she asked Mnemosyne and me to do this because she figured Tartarus would be the best place to do it, since she figure the atmosphere would fit the tone and Mnemosyne is the goddess of memories. I agreed to do as long as I get to tell them why we were doing this and whose idea it was. She agreed to my terms and I sent the Furies to capture you and knock you out and send you down here to Tartarus. And that's the whole story."

"So what are you going to do with us now?" Aresia asked. "Turn us into your pets and play toys?"

"No," Hades told her. "You all are going to go home." He then turned to his upper left. "Furies!" All three of the Furies came and none of them were happy. "Would you send they back home for me? They have done to them what needed to be done." He then turned to the cage. "Goodbye. I will see you again one day. For all met death in good time." Everyone in the cage and turned to look at the Furies. Flash was horrified at how hideous they were. Lantern, Superman, Aresia, Hippolyta, Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman had fear on their face. Batman stood up and leaded against the wall of the cage, scared he was too for they reminded him of everyone he had failed and all the things he wished he had not done.

The Furies raced around the cage and in closed it in darkness. They took the air right out of their lungs and knocked them unconscious. They then took the bodies of the leaguers and Amazons and carried them out of Tartarus. Hades and Mnemosyne watched as the Furies carried them out of Tartarus. Hippolyta was laid in her bed on Themiscyria, Aresia was laid on her bed in her hideout, and the leaguers were laid on the floor of the Javelin bay, because the Furies wanted them to see each other when they awoke. The Furies then snapped their fingers, once back in Tartarus, and the air came back it their lungs and all awoke. Aresia and Hippolyta woke up and thought it a dream but that theory was not possibly for on their right forearm was the mark of a talon a mark made by the Furies when they were carried back.

The leaguers awoke and looked at each other bewildered and they knew all that they saw and felt had really happened. One by one, starting with Batman, left the Javelin Bay and heading for a different part of the Watchtower unsure of what to do next.

 **By the way everyone don't worry I will finish this. I have one more chapter and then time for sequel!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Problems

It had been a several days since the Tartarus incident and no one was doing well. Hippolyta and Aresia got over the pain after four days, and then had to deal with another problem, but the league was still recovering. The league's Watchtower was filled with silence, even Flash was quiet. The only time noise ever came through was during meeting, and even then it was only Superman talking. Everyone was avoiding each other and when it was meal time everyone sat at their own table.

They were still all traumatized by what they had seen. Flash didn't even try to lift the mood with a joke for he knew it would be in vain. Their missions were still done in the same fashion and were still working like a dream. In their social lives were another story entirely. Even when Flash, Batman, Green Lantern and Superman had to go home and work they were still the same. Diana, Shayera and Jonn' were either doing monitor duty, having a meal, training or in their quarters but none of their schedules ever over lapped.

Flash decided that this separation had gone on long enough. He knew he needed some way to cheer everyone up and get them laughing and smiling again. He then knew what he was going to do. Wally West went to copier store and made copies of a poster that he had made for the special event he was planning for the league. Flash brought up the posters and put them up in every room on the Watchtower, knowing that everyone would see them and everyone did see it. Jonn', Shayera and Diana were excited and curious. John and Clark were excided. While Batman didn't know what to think should he be mad, frustrated or excited. On the poster it read, "Come to Karaoke Night tomorrow night in the Watchtower's wreck room! Music and food will be provided all you need to bring is yourself."

 **The end of one story is just the beginning of another**

Don't worry I'll be back with the sequel. And by the way APM means after Painful Memories. BPM means before Painful Memories. And NPM means not in the same universe as Painful Memories. The reason I tell you this is because it will be important for future stories.


End file.
